Westlake gifted teacher earns national award

Westlake gifted teacher Anne Dill was honored with an award from the Mathematical Association of America. Photo by Kim Bonvissuto

Anne Dill, gifted teacher at Westlake High School and Lee Burneson Middle School, was selected as a winner of the 2016 Edyth May Sliffe Award for Distinguished Mathematics Teaching in Middle and High School.

Dill won the award based on letters from students and colleagues, who acknowledged Dill’s hard work and going above and beyond what is expected of an American Mathematics Competition (AMC) manager to help her students do their best and enjoy mathematics.

“Your encouragement and commitment to your students had made a noticeable difference in your students’ problem-solving abilities and love of mathematics,” the committee wrote in a letter to Dill.

Dill is one of 34 to receive the award nationwide, and the only recipient from Ohio.

“I feel honored, yet humbled, to receive the 2016 Edyth May Sliffe Award for Westlake High School,” Dill said, adding her appreciation to Gifted Coordinator Carol Froehlich, WHS Principal Tim Freeman, LBMS Principal Paul Wilson and Dover Intermediate School Principal Alex Fleming for helping her find empty classrooms for practices and contests, and finding funding for local, state and national competitions for students. “The kids have grown in their math skills as they have grown into teenagers.”

The award was created from a bequest from Edyth May Sliffe, a high school mathematics teacher at Emery High School in California. The award from the Mathematical Association of America recognizes high school and middle school mathematics teachers whose teams participate in MAA AMC Competitions.

While Sliffe’s students always received various honors for their performance, the teachers supporting them rarely were recognized. She made this bequest because she felt that hard-working teachers deserve recognition, too.