History Will Not be the Same Without Ms. Hamilton

After 31 years of dedicating much of her time to teaching, Ms. Hamilton is ready to retire. A Siena College and SUNY Albany grad, she has spent 24 years teaching at New Hartford, mainly teaching Global Studies 2 and Humanitarian Law. This year Ms. Hamilton will part ways with room 269, and move on to the next chapter of her life.

Most people know Mrs. Hamilton as the lovable history teacher, but she has many hobbies outside of school. She spends her time working out, mostly on her Peloton. But what she likes to do the most outside of school, is train her golden retriever puppy, Siggie, to become a therapy dog. She also wants to travel more; having already traveled to over 55 countries, she feels as if there is still more for her to explore. She also is excited to spend more time with her husband, Chas. 

Mrs. Hamilton hasn’t always wanted to be a teacher, though. As a young kid, she wanted to become a politician, or work with the FBI. During her sophomore year of college, everything changed. Mrs. Hamilton fell in love with her Russian history class, and the rest was history.

Mrs.Hamilton hopes that after 24 years of teaching she has given her students a love for history and ideas to live their best lives, with her life hacks. Mrs. Hamilton’s advice to new teachers is “Don’t let anyone outwork you” but also to have fun with it. And to all students who want to become teachers, she says that “It’s not easy, but it matters.”

Mrs. Hamilton has taught many students, but also many teachers. Fellow history teacher Mr. Prokosch learned the importance of working with passion and how to guide students to become better humans from his colleague. 

“Her passion for teaching is infectious,” said Mr. Prokosch.

Her students always have a good word for her style of teaching. Two of her students said that it never really felt like she was teaching. 

“She always taught the course like a story, and she should be proud of that,” said 10th grader Branco Cavic, who had Mrs.Hamilton for Global 2. 

Mrs.Hamilton teaches young minds many “ways to improve your own life,” said 10th grader Siena Bradley. Both students would like to thank Mrs.Hamilton for all she was done for them and for New Hartford.

Mrs. Hamilton has dedicated 31 years of her life to teaching history, but she has done far more than just that. She teaches her students how to live life to the fullest, and how to become kind, helpful people, who can actively contribute to society. Mrs. Hamilton will be missed by all here at New Hartford.