Emma Hallford, an FHS grad, will graduate in December 2023 from Texas A&M University where she served as a student council officer. She will start teaching in the Leander Independent School District in January 2024. – Submitted photo
Texas A&M University educators awarded Emma Hallford, a 2019 graduate of Fredericksburg High School, Student Teacher of the Year honors, Wednesday, Nov. 15 in Leander.
“Genuinely good teachers are capable of looking at a situation and wondering how they can change for the better, not the students,” said Kathy Balcer, Hallford’s university supervisor said, when she presented the award at Parkside Elementary School in Leander. “In Emma’s reflection on her midterm, she wrote, ‘During our midpoint conference, my cooperating teacher and you (supervisor) both agreed that my ability to reach the students in an engaging way is a strength of mine, also mentioning how I approach each student differently, being mindful of differentiating.’ Now that is professional insight.”
“Yes, that is naturally Emma Hallford. This is one of the greatest strengths a teacher has, and she has it,” Balcer said.
Hallford will graduate from the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University on Dec. 15.
In January 2024, she will be a new sixth grade science teacher in Leander ISD.