Morbitzer + math education = Ohio Teacher of the Year
Carole Morbitzer works with kids who absolutely despise the very subject that she teaches.
However, her Hamilton Township High School sophomores who originally dread math end up appreciating the subject, and 93 percent of them passed the math portion of the Ohio Graduation Test in 2012.
“I think every teacher has a niche,” Morbitzer said. “Working with struggling math students is mine. I absolutely love it.”
New technology helps Morbitzer (’95 Mathematics Education) really get through to her students. She uses Discourse, an interactive mathematics computer system, SMART board and iPad apps.
“I can ask students to work on a problem and see their responses immediately, 100 percent of the time,” said the math coach for Hamilton Local School District in southern Franklin County, Ohio. “Students who have been embarrassed to ask questions in the past can now use the instant messenger option and send me a question without having to ask out loud.”
Her prowess earned Mortbizer the 2013 Ohio Teacher of the Year Award. “It’s amazing to win an award for something that you’ve loved doing ever since you were in middle school,” she said.
Morbitzer, her husband and fellow alumnus Michael (’94 English Education), and children Anthony, 14, and Sarah, 11, met President Barak Obama and Vice President Joe Bidden during national teacher recognition week in April. Michael Morbitzer serves as Hamilton Township’s assistant vice principal.
She previously received the 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and was invited to participate in the U.S. Department of Education Project RESPECT initiative to make teaching the nation’s most esteemed profession.
“To me, it is most rewarding to find out which instructional method works for which student,” she said. “When you solve that, you really get through to them.”
College well represented
Ohio Teacher of the Year Carole Morbitzer was in good company: three of the four other Ohio finalists also were EHE alumni. Thomas Gregory (’87 MA) is a speech and television production at Gahanna Lincoln High School, Gahanna, Ohio. Holly Lavender (’00 MEd) specializes in chemistry at Liberty Union High School, Baltimore, Ohio. Paul LaRue (’81) teaches social studies to students at Washington High School, Washington Courthouse, Ohio.
