STEVEN HILLARD

With these adjustments in his role over the past twenty-two years, Hillard has witnessed great change: he began his time at Hammond teaching six classes from fifth to twelfth grade, but now teaches only two daily classes, a change that recognizes his vast array of responsibilities outside the classroom. He has also seen greater cultural changes on campus; in his view, Hammond’s definition of learning has gone beyond classroom education to constitute experiential opportunities outside the classroom.

However, Hillard’s “passion to get involved in students’ lives” has remained constant throughout his career. He describes “the time I get to spend with students individually and as a group” as the highlight of his work, particularly during Hammond’s experiential opportunities in places like Colonial Williamsburg and Costa Rica Hillard also notes the importance of the relationships he fosters with students after they graduate, saying, “They are the lifelong relationships that are of the greatest value to me ”

Appropriately, Hillard sees his greatest setback as “a lack of time” to pursue a wide variety of opportunities for Hammond students Clearly, though, this lack of time is no hindrance to his passion for all things Hammond. To him, what sets Hammond apart is the opportunity afforded for students “to step outside of tradition, to step outside of the paradigm that currently might be education, to step outside themselves.” Hillard recognizes that many independent schools offer the same experiential opportunities that Hammond offers, but believes that Hammond is distinct in its “genuine care for students to have the best outlook afforded to them, and allowing them to make mistakes, to realize their resilience and to realize that there is something beyond the moment they are in ”