St. Paul science teacher selected as Teacher of the Year

She is the 49th winner of the prestigious award, and the third from the St. Paul School District.

Once on the pathway to medical school and a career as a doctor, Hall knew she would instead become a teacher after volunteering and teaching music to children at St. Joseph’s Home for Children in Minneapolis. “That showed me I belonged in a classroom and not a hospital,” she said, noting the deep attachment she felt for children who showed “resilience and capability despite the most unfair circumstances.”

Megan Olivia Hall

She brings that passion to teaching science to students at Open World. “I continue to believe it is my honor-bound duty to remove any obstacles to a fair chance at life for my students,” she said. “I work to see the world through my students’ eyes, for they are, after all, the same as me. We are playing on the same team.”

Experiential learning, character and cultural education are hallmarks of Hall’s teaching style. “Megan’s classroom is a delightful learning space, flooded with light and brimming with hands-on science,” said Todd Bartholomay, former principal at Open School, in a letter of recommendation for Hall. “She believes that science is life, not a ‘siloed’ subject. She is extraordinary in her vision of what a school and classroom can be for students.”

Hall has taught at Open World Learning Community since 2006 and has been teaching in St. Paul since 2002. She holds numerous science-education leadership positions within the district and the state. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Macalester College and a master’s degree in science education from the College of St. Catherine.

The Minnesota Teacher of the Year is selected by a panel of 25 community leaders in fields such as education, business, government, nonprofit and parent groups.

Education Minnesota, the 70,000-member statewide educators’ union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program, which receives program and award support from the following organizations: SMART Technologies, Marriott Minneapolis Northwest, the Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, United Educators Credit Union, McDonald’s Restaurants of Minnesota, TruStone Financial, Pearson Education and Education Minnesota ESI.

Reprinted from the Education Minnesota website.