It is an honor to be considered for the Presidential Award. I am humbled to be selected from among the numerous highly qualified colleagues who have challenged me in the classroom as a teacher and a student. The support of my family and administration has been invaluable in my educational journey. Receiving this award validates the time and energy that I have invested engaging, motivating, and challenging my students to solve problems and explain concepts that they never dreamed were possible.

Kyla Hall Lincoln, NE | K-6, Mathematics, 2014

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Kyla Hall taught fifth grade for nine years, with the last two years at Kloefkorn Elementary School. Previously, she taught at Rousseau Elementary School. She is currently on a leave of absence from classroom teaching to care for her young son. Kyla fosters a deep understanding of mathematics in the classroom through the use of writing to encourage her students to explain their thought processes when completing complex, multi-step problem solving work. Since her completion of a middle-level mathematics program at the University of Nebraska, Kyla has taken on an active role in assisting and teaching her fellow educators. She frequently serves as a master teacher for summer classes and helped to write, develop, and teach a course in problem solving in the elementary classroom. She even collaborated with university researchers, bringing them into the fifth grade classroom to introduce her students to higher-level mathematics and problem solving. This work led to a presentation of the experience at a regional conference for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Kyla has a B.A., magna cum laude, in liberal studies from Point Loma Nazarene University and an M.A. in mathematics from the University of Nebraska. She is a certified elementary school teacher and also holds an endorsement to teach middle-level mathematics and science.

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