Rudy Hanley Scholarship: Claudia Hardi

Master of Arts in Teaching Multiple Subject Candidate Claudia Hardi has been awarded the 2017-2018 Rudy Hanley Scholarship, presented by Mr. Hanley on November 7, 2017.

About Claudia Hardi

​Nothing fulfills me the way that teaching does. Even as a young child, I remember playing the role of a teacher to a class of diverse stuffed animals, each animal with a distinct personality. Then in elementary and middle school, I eagerly volunteered to explain how to solve math problems on the board, or to read passages of a novel out loud to my classmates. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the practice of sharing thoughts and ideas, I did not fully grasp the impact that teaching could have until high school. In high school, my AP Calculus teacher asked me to tutor a struggling classmate near the end of the school year. Going into it, I thought I was merely helping him pass the final. Little did I know I was actually helping him graduate.  Furthermore, beyond any help that I offered him, I realized that it was really he who had helped me. Working with him helped me recognize the multidimensionality of teaching: it is academic, relational, and impactful. This realization combined with my love for teaching developed into a full-blown passion that I am incredibly blessed to be pursuing at one of the top teacher preparation programs in the country. 

Frederick Douglass stated that “[i]t is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” I truly believe that the school is critical to the development of our future generation. Consequently, as a teacher I seek to “build strong children” by creating an environment where students will build on their content knowledge, build on their understanding of the world around them, build relationships with their peers, build confidence in themselves, and above all, build character. Although I hope that most (if not all) of my students will leave my class with an appreciation of the world and how science relates to it, I believe it is a strong character that students will carry with them outside of class.   

Ultimately, my goal is for my students to leave the classroom with an appreciation of themselves, empowered by the belief that they can make a positive impact.