Rotary teachers of year

HOPE – A hands-on science teacher and a teacher/coach were honored as the 2018 Rotary Club Teachers of the Year here Thursday night.
Hope Academy of Public Service science teacher Carol Hendrix was named Elementary Teacher of the Year, and Hope High School Ladycat assistant girls’ basketball coach/history teacher Kelly Muldrew was named Secondary Teacher of the Year.
The awards were presented during the annual Rotary Club banquet at Hempstead Hall on the University of Arkansas-Hope campus by Rotary Club President Terri James and Teacher of the Year Chairman John Watkins.
Hendrix is known at HAPS for her hands-on approach to science, which includes coaching the HAPS Robotics Club Team that won the HAPS campus’ first competition award this year at the VEX Robotics Challenge in Vilonia.
“She engages students in the wonders of science daily using a great deal of innovation,” Watkins said, reading from her nomination letter. “She actively participates in all our public service events.”
Watkins noted that the nomination explained how Hendrix brings science to her students when, on the occasion of a HAPS student undergoing open heart surgery, Hendrix brought an animal heart to her classroom and used it to explain the procedure.
A 28-year teacher, Hendrix is a graduate of Southern Arkansas University with a bachelor’s degree in education, and she received her master’s degree from Mississippi State University. She is in her second year of teaching at HAPS as fifth/sixth grades science teacher.
Hendrix is married to Kent Hendrix; the mother of Clayton Hendrix, and the late Lena Hendrix. The family attends the Church of Christ. She has taught at Prescott, El Dorado, Mineral Springs, and Nashville prior to teaching at HAPS.
“I chose teaching because I always loved to learn and problem solve,” Hendrix said. “I intensely wondered why some people were able to learn easier than others.”
Muldrew has undertaken a variety of roles at Hope High School, in addition to duties as a history teacher. She was named HHS Parental Involvement Coordinator this year, where she seeks to bring students’ parents into the culture of HHS to support their children and all HHS students.
As PI Coordinator, Muldrew is also responsible for the publication of the HHS edition of Bobcat View, the parental involvement newsletter of the Hope Public Schools.
“This is my third year as a teacher/coach for Hope Public Schools, and I absolutely love my job and my students,” Muldrew said.
She is an alumnus of HHS, and a graduate of Southern Arkansas University, with a bachelor’s degree in education, majoring in physical education wellness and leisure, with a minor in history. Muldrew received her master’s degree in education in school counseling from SAU in December, 2017.
A native of Hope, Muldrew said she wanted to maintain her roots in the community through public education.
“My vision is for our students, our school, and our community to flourish and grow as a cohesive unit; and, to do that, we are seeking to rebuild our relationship with our parents and our community,” she said.
Hendrix and Muldrew received personal awards of $150 each to be used as they desired within their classrooms, and HAPS and HHS received $250 awards each for general classroom support from the Rotary Club.
Featured speaker John Hollis, dean of institutional effectiveness at UAHT, prefaced the presentation of the awards with a reminder to the Rotarians that teaching is the foundational profession to all others.
“Without teachers, you have no other professions,” Hollis said. “That is where they all begin.”
Rotarians also named past president Steve Lance a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, donating $1,000 to the Rotary Paul Harris Foundation in his name. The Paul Harris Fellow is the highest honor local Rotarians can bestow upon a member.