Congratulations to Oklahoma’s 2013 Outstanding Biology Teacher Award recipient, veteran Norman High School teacher, Deborah Hill. Ms. Hill has been an invaluable faculty member at Norman High School for the past seventeen years. She has also taught at West Mid High School and Highland East Jr. High. Along the way she has taught many different science disciplines. This year she will be teaching AP Biology along with Zoology and Zoology Essentials. Regardless of what content she teaches, Deborah is focused on her students and providing them with information to build upon for future decisions and understanding of the natural world around them. Her “true goal as a teacher to instill a sense of wonder and love of life and science” is tempered with a desire to inspire many of her students to continue their science education in post-secondary education and future career choices. 
Deborah is no shrinking violet when it comes to change. She is currently making over her AP Biology course, “flipping” her classroom to better use class time for inquiry, group interactions, critical thinking, formative assessments and so forth. In her words her “greatest asset is my continual quest to revise my curriculum constantly and to reinvent my teaching in order to stay current.” She is a member of NABT, NSTA, OSTA, NEA/OEA/PEN and OESE and regularly reads the American Biology Teacher, Journal of College Science Teaching and The Science Teacher. A self-described Workshop/PD “junkie”, she seeks out opportunities to attend NABT conferences, the annual OSTA conference, where she has been a presenter, College Board events and summer institutes, AP Reader, OCCC biotech/DNA workshops along with a plethora of others.
Former student, Michael Ripperger describes his experience with, “the environment in her room was unlike any in high school; it truly felt like the epitome of a learning environment. Her teaching changed students’ attitudes and got everyone motivated and excited to learn and explore. Ms. Hill was absolutely a joy to see and interact with every day.” He went on to say “the greatest treasure Ms. Hill gave me was the opportunity to learn in a real microbiology lab of the University of Oklahoma this summer as an intern.” Beyond being an extremely gifted teacher in the classroom, Deborah utilizes the resources of the University of Oklahoma to place students into summer positions. Securing positions for her students brought her into collaboration with Marc Libault, who not only mentors students, but seeks the involvement of other researchers, along with classroom visits to Ms. Hill’s class to help students perform molecular biology procedures. Inspired by Ms. Hill’s vision, he is now seeking NSF funding to further the outreach program. According to Deborah, “Every student that has done this has majored in biological studies and most are in post grad programs and research of their own.” For all of these reasons and many more, Deborah Hill has been chosen to represent the state of Oklahoma as this year’s Outstanding Biology Teacher Awardee.
Every year, the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (OBTA) program attempts to recognize an outstanding biology educator (grades 7-12 only) in each of the 50 states; Washington, DC; Canada; Puerto Rico; and overseas territories. Candidates for this award do not have to be NABT members, but they must have at least three years of public, private, or parochial school teaching experience. A major portion of the nominee’s career must have been devoted to the teaching of biology/life science, and candidates are judged on their teaching ability and experience, cooperativeness in the school and community, inventiveness, initiative, and student-teacher relationships. OBTA recipients are special guests at the Honors Luncheon held at the NABT Professional Development Conference; receive microscopes from Leica Microsystems, gift certificates from Carolina Biological Supply Company, and award certificates and complimentary one-year membership from NABT.