Meet Your Teacher

Hi, I'm Mrs. Hillman. I grew up about 15 miles south of Oelwein in the rival town of Independence. After high school, I went to Wartburg College in Waverly, where I majored in elementary education and played softball for the Knights.

Before I graduated from Wartburg, I took a fifth grade teaching position in Oelwein. I taught fifth grade for two years, then taught Title I reading for two years, 3rd grade for one year, and now I am going to be teaching 4th grade for the second year. I love the change, but am glad to be teaching fourth grade...as fourth grade is my favorite!

When I am not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family. My husband, Brian, and I got married in the summer of 2005. In the summer of 2006, we had our first child, Drew, who is my pride and joy. He is such a good little toddler! In addition to my husband and son, I have a close family. My dad still lives in Independence. I have two brothers, who are both teachers and coaches, and we are very competitive with each other. My brother, Mike, is married to Brenda and they have two little ones, Ryan and Mackenzie. Chris, my other brother, is happily unwed and lives in Ames.

I also enjoy sports of all sorts! I really enjoy playing every sport or game and working out at the gym. I also love watching the CYCLONES!!! As you will quickly learn, I am a die-hard cyclone fan and my husband is a huge HAWKEYE fan. We get to have some fun in the classroom, as well, when the Cy-Hawk series takes place.

In addition to sports and family, I enjoy reading. I take time to read many of the books that I think my students will enjoy so I can suggest some great books. My favorite authors are Louis Sachar, Mary Downing Hawn and Dan Gutman, as they write very detailed books that 4th graders enjoy.