Looking up the word “passionate” in “Dictionary of Shakespeare” and there will be a picture of Terri Hilgendorf, professor at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey.
Whether engaging her students in one of the three genres of Shakespeare’s plays or assisting students with online course work, Hilgendorf represents what the area has to offer in effective teaching. If your image of a teacher is someone standing in front of a classroom, lecturing endlessly, get rid of that mental picture.
As a young learner, Hilgendorf was a shy individual who paid her way (two classes at a time) through school to attain her bachelor’s degree in English. One day she saw an ad for a learning assistant specialist at L&C, applied, and got the job. That was the beginning of her academic journey.
She obtained her associate’s degree at L&C, then her bachelor of arts in English and master of arts in the teaching of writing from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She has earned several awards over the course of her career. In 1986 she won the Garry N. Murphy Memorial Award in undergraduate writing at SIUE. In 2002, she received the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. She was recognized by Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 2004 and has an Outstanding Faculty Member Nomination from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association.
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