Danielle Ward repeats as Hilldale Teacher of the Year

Jan. 31—Hilldale High School STEAM teacher Danielle Ward gets her students involved — whether with robots, balloons, or both.

Such innovations have helped Ward earn Hilldale Public Schools' 2024 Teacher of the Year, as well as High School Teacher of the Year. Ward also earned Hilldale District Teacher of the Year in 2017.

School officials presented her with this year's honor and a bouquet or roses Tuesday morning.

"It was a great surprise," Ward said. "It's been a rough year for me health-wise, so seeing them come in this morning was a good surprise. I didn't know if the flowers were congratulations because I got good news yesterday from the doctor, and they said 'No, you won.'"

Hilldale High Principal Josh Nixon said Ward has a "willingness to work hard and a desire to help kids."

"She has a love of education," Nixon said.

High School senior Connor Walker said "she's nice and funny."

Ward said students are the most important thing when it comes to teaching.

"It's all about the students, all about the kids and bringing opportunities to them," she said.

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. Ward said she seeks to teach all areas.

"Right now, two classes are getting trained on our CNC (computer numerical control) machines and they'll walk away with certification on it, and they'll also walk away with certification on our 3D45 printers," she said.

Students also are researching and creating balloon characters, including Shrek and Kermit the Frog, for a Balloons Over Broadway.

"It's like the Macy's Parade," she said. "They build a float out of a LEGO kit and a balloon and they'll program them to go down the hallway. So on Friday, we'll have our Balloons Over Broadway parade."

Participating in VEX Robotics Challenges offers more opportunities. Student competitors must design, build and program robots to compete in skills challenges.

"They're in the process of making their robots more competitive," she said.

Ward has coached the middle school and high school robotics teams for several years and there are more teams this year.

"We are up to eight teams total — four in our high school and four in our middle school — so it's very challenging for one person," she said. "Teaching and coaching robotics over the years has been a lot of fun."