Educator Ernest Hill (at left), who was recognized as Louisiana’s 2022 Middle School Teacher of the Year, developed an annual lesson to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Photo credit: Monroe News Star
Louisiana teacher, assistant principal, and author Ernest Hill planned an annual observance for the birthday of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Ernest, a former social studies teacher at Holly Ridge Elementary School in Richland Parish, was recognized as his state’s 2022 Middle School Teacher of the Year. Currently, he works as an Assistant Principal at his school.
As a classroom teacher, Ernest led his annual lesson about MLK by showing his students a video about the historical icon, followed by a period of self-reflection to think about how to apply King’s actions to their lives today. Ernest emphasized that the holiday is best celebrated with action. “I often tell them that if we live our lives the correct way and if we put ourselves in a position to to be successful, that at some point we have to become the answer to people’s prayers,” Ernest declared. “I just try to make sure that they understand the overall message of King and then how we can apply it to our lives in terms of the opportunity that we have in this country to be whatever we want to be—and the obligation we have to give our best effort to make sure that sacrifices of people like King were not in vain,” he continued.
Next, Ernest would launch his annual movement for reading. As the author of the book A Life for a Life, the former teacher encouraged reading while at the same time introducing his students to stories where they could see themselves. And then he encouraged them to go beyond the text, to imagine themselves in history. In this way, he helped young people understand the emotional aspects of past events. “It’s sort of a continuation of everything that King talked about,” Ernest explained. “I believe in movements; I believe in doing things in a large way in order to create a winning culture or mindset among the masses so that we move in one step towards an ultimate goal of success—and that’s education,” he said.
While literacy is an issue statewide in Louisiana, Ernest says that illiteracy is especially high among Black middle school students. Through his movement to encourage reading, the award-winning teacher hoped to change that.
To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this article about him published in 2021 by the Monroe News Star.
