Green Valley coach Teacher of Year

Terry Webster

Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001 | 8:45 a.m.

Teacher and coach Erin Hill figured all of the hoopla was for her girls volleyball team.

Staffers led a stunned Hill through a crowd of about 250 Wednesday in the Green Valley High School courtyard, as the band blared the school fight song and the crowd clapped in time.

"I thought it had to be for us because we won the state championship," said Hill, a health teacher and coach at the school. The girls volleyball team had just won the state championship Saturday.

But as it turned out, it was Hill's day to be a state champion -- the winner of the Nevada Teacher of the Year Award. She accepted the award during a surprise ceremony attended by family members, students, fellow staffers and officials from the Clark County School District and the Nevada Department of Education.

After learning the news from state education Superintendent Jack McLaughlin, a stunned and emotional Hill said she was "absolutely overwhelmed."

"This is what I've always wanted to do and I love it," she said, her voice breaking. "People say, 'Don't you want to do this, or don't you want to do that,' and I say, 'No, I love teaching and I love coaching.' And I love working at Green Valley High School."

The annual award for Teacher of the Year recognizes the Nevada teacher who shows overall excellence and a commitment to professional development and community service.

Deputy Superintendent Augie Orci brought home the meaning of the honor to everyone in the audience.

"I want everyone to remember the best teacher they ever had, and to think about that teacher," Orci said.

The lessons that teacher taught in the classroom were important, but secondary to why we remember them, he said.

"They affected your heart and soul ... and helped you be the best you can be," Orci said.

Students said Hill exemplifies that quality, whether in the classroom or on the court.

"She puts the best into everything she does," said Chelsea Bryan, a junior and member of the volleyball team.

"She's just an amazing person," said teammate Chelsi White, a senior. "She teaches us to always do our best, no matter what, and to give 100 percent. And she always says that no matter what you do, it always affects someone else."

Hill said the most important lesson she can teach students is to always work hard and put an extra effort into it every day.

"When you work hard and keep working hard, everything else just falls into place," she said.

Hill credits her former teachers in elementary and high school and health problems faced by her grandfather as the reasons for her lifelong interest in teaching physical education and health.

Green Valley Principal Betty Sabo said Hill does more than talk about success -- she lives it.

"She really does what she says," Sabo said. "For her, talk is not cheap. She does what she says, and she does it all the time. She's an excellent teacher.'

Hill has been a health teacher at Green Valley since it opened in 1991. She began her career as a physical education teacher at Galloway Elementary School in 1984. She holds a bachelor's degree in physical education and health and a master's degree in exercise physiology, both from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada.