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An Old School Educator Still Thriving at Hill
An Old School Educator Still Thriving at Hill
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By Leonard Shapiro
In an era of national and local teacher shortages and fewer college students than ever looking to make the classroom their future careers, Don Woodruff, Hill School’s octogenarian ageless wonder, has clearly been bucking that troublesome trend.
He’s 82 and has been teaching history and other subjects for 58 years.
“I love teaching,” he said. “Teaching these kids at these grade levels helps me to have a healthier life, be more in touch with what’s going on and I enjoy the subjects. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Don Woodruff and Callie, his Scottie pal.
Photo by Leonard Shapiro
Over those six decades, he’s done plenty more. He’s been a coach, a Head and an Assistant Head of School, and a Development and Admissions Officer. All the while he’s pursued his other great passion as a long-time lacrosse referee, from grade school to the highest levels of collegiate competition in a sport he played until his late 30s.
At Hill, he teaches eighth grade American History as well as reading to second and fourth grade classes and one-on-one reading work with students who need extra help. And he still referees middle school lacrosse on the weekends.
All the while, he added, “I still embrace the mantra that I never come to school without great expectations and joy.”
Don and his late wife, Mary, came to teach at Hill in 1996. Tom Northrup, Hill’s former Head of School said, “Don represents the best of old school, someone who will do anything for the good of the school. He will stay after an event and help put away the chairs. Just an excellent teacher and coach and overall person. And Mary was the same way.”
A native of Baltimore, Woodruff said he never took a single education course before he began his teaching career. A three-sport athlete and graduate of Trinity College in Connecticut, he served as a Navy officer during the Vietnam War and spent 11 months on a PT boat tasked with preventing the smuggling of arms from China and North Vietnam into the hands of the Viet Cong.
He finished his military service stationed in Washington, where he “re-met” Mary, a childhood acquaintance, and they married a year later. He said the best advice he ever got came from his father-inlaw, a brilliant doctor and researcher who graduated medical school at age 17.
“When I asked to marry his daughter, he asked me what I was going to do,” Woodruff recalled. “I said ‘I’m going to take some education courses and become a teacher.’ He said ‘don’t bother with the education courses. Go to graduate school and study history.’ So I did.”
He completed a Masters at American University in 1966, then was hired to teach at St. James School in Hagerstown, Maryland, where Mary became the school’s first fulltime art teacher since its founding in 1842. They stayed for 20 years before he was named Head of School at Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News. After seven years, he helped restart and run Fredericksburg Academy for two years before deciding to accept the offer to come to Hill.
Mary joined the faculty as an art teacher and librarian and was an equally beloved member of the staff until her death last year. He is still moved by what he described as “the overwhelming outpouring of affection” from the community, and particularly so many of his past Hill students and colleagues.
Woodruff lives within blocks of Hill and is often seen on campus and around town walking his black Scottie dog Callie, who spends the school day in Woodruff’s cozy, cluttered office in Hill’s main building, a mini-history museum in its own right.
“Don’s dedication not only to Hill School but to the profession of education is remarkable.” said Treavor Lord, Hill’s Head of School. “His love of history and his drive for instilling this passion in his students is legendary. Don’s devotion to his craft and his school sets an example for all of us.”
Old School? Maybe. But definitely showing the Woodruff Way for the next generation.
