Glendale Elementary School 5th Grade Teacher
Hillary Williams dreamed of becoming a college football analyst for ESPN. When she realized she would probably be biased towards her team, she rethought that decision and is now living her true dream of giving back to her community.
Born and raised in Vero Beach, Hillary attended Highlands Elementary (now Indian River Academy), Oslo Middle School, and is a 2006 graduate of Vero Beach High School. Attending Florida State University, Indian River State College, and University of Central Florida, she earned her teaching degree and started teaching for the School District of Indian River County.
“With over 10 teachers within 3 generations in my family, it only felt right to go into education.”
Currently a 5th grade ELA and Social Studies teacher at Glendale Elementary School, Hillary also taught 5th grade at Rosewood Magnet School for 4 years.
“5th grade is my favorite grade to teach, my grandfather taught 5th grade for almost 40 years so that's probably where I get it from! I absolutely love teaching Social Studies to my students. I thrive off of student's excitement about our country's history and instilling the importance of being a productive contributing member of society.”
In addition to her family, Hillary has had many inspirational educators throughout her life. Her 5th grade teacher, Michelle Shafer at Highlands Elementary, showed her how the love for your students surpasses anything that happens in the classroom.
Her teaching partner, Alison Falana, who fought every day to come to school while battling stage 4 cancer and who taught until her last day on earth, is her guardian angel.
Her Aunt Maryrose was the music teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary at the time of the school shooting. She kept her students safe by keeping students calm and praying with them while waiting for help. She stayed at Sandy Hook until the last class of students that were there graduated.
“There are no words that could describe the respect I have for my aunt.”
Glendale Elementary is a Title 1 school that has adopted being an Agriculture/Environmental Science school. Her students are economically disadvantaged and do not have the opportunity to experience many things that we take for granted due to lack of funding. The supplies she requests enhance not just her students’ learning experience, but their lives.
To make a donation helping Hillary provide the best learning experience for her students, go to https://www.teacherneeds.org/donate and send us an email at info@teacherneeds.org letting us know you would like to support Hillary.
I appreciate the donations that I received from teacherneeds.org. Donations allow me to supply my students with basic needs in the classroom so I can worry about teaching.