On October 27th, Mr. Mark Hartman was chosen as the Teacher of the Year for the 2016-2017 school year! The next step is for him to compete for the Wake County Teacher of the Year award, and then possibly move on to the state level. With a degree in Physics and Astrophysics, Mr. Hartman has been teaching for fourteen years. He has been the Physics and Physical Science teacher here for six of those years. Seeing that there were not a lot of students joining the Physics class, he noticed it was because they do not know enough Physical Science. Thus, the Physical Science class was created.

 When asked how he felt about winning the award, Mr. Hartman said, “It’s a really big honor to be recognized by fellow teachers, to say that they would want to have me represent them in the teaching profession.” Mr. Hartman believes in growth and perseverance in his students. In the classroom he encourages that failure is an okay thing and it is better to recognize and fix it rather than immediately giving up. “We need to change the thing that is normal in the classroom: from being afraid of being wrong, to embracing being wrong,” said Mr. Hartman. As his students become self aware that they do not understand something and realize when they need help, he is there to assist them. Mrs. King describes Mr. Hartman as a very hands on teacher, who is kid focused, and she said, “When you walk into his classroom, sometimes you can’t find him because he’s on the floor with a demonstration!” He also believes in teachers integrating their own teaching styles into the classrooms of their colleagues. “It meant a lot to me that people have seen me doing some professional development for folks in the school, and I think that’s a part of growing a culture at a school, telling or having our students do different things and having that go from one classroom to the other,” Mr. Hartman said.

 Ms. King believes that Mr. Hartman deserves the Teacher of the Year award because “Millbrook has phenomenal teachers, and he was the one chosen by our faculty to represent all that’s good. He is the heart of the philosophy of doing what’s best for all kids all the time.” When asked what advice he would give to all of his fellow teachers, Mr. Hartman said, “Continue to reflect on your own teaching and what you are learning about yourself, your content, and your students.” As this is Mr. Hartman’s first time winning this award, he is not sure what it entitles, but jokingly said, “Ms. King, maybe I can get a closer parking spot!” The whole Millbrook family is rooting for Mr. Hartman to earn the county and state level Teacher of the Year award. Ms. King said, “I think if he shows everything that he is, I can’t help but expect that he’ll win Wake County Teacher of the Year.” Good luck Mr. Hartman!