Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators

Beverly A. Hinckley (1995)

Beverly Hinckley explains her philosophy of teaching in one surprisingly simple sentence: "I firmly believe that if my students don't desire to learn as much as they desire to eat, I haven't done my job."

Beverly grew up as the daughter of a Scientist father and a mother who greatly encouraged freedom and self-reliance. She spent summers in Ontario Lake country, where she developed a healthy respect for nature through direct experience.

Beverly earned her Bachelor's degree at Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts before continuing at Boston University for her graduate degree. She is certified as an Elementary Principal and Teacher for ages K-8 and a Teacher of Reading for ages K-12. She has been teaching at the Horace Mann School in Melrose, Massachusetts since 1974. While there, she has taught third grade, kindergarten, and fifth grade.

Beverly is the Chairperson for the Professional Development Council, which sponsors the Melrose Summer Institute. She has initiated Salem State graduate credit and on-site childcare for the program's more than five hundred participants each year. She has developed such teaching tools as the Egg Hatching Unit, in which students engage in the scientific process of hatching chicks and ducks, and the Rainforest Unit, where students act out rainforest food chains and life cycles.

"It is wonderful to be able to say that I love my work and that I am still growing and learning."

Special Honors:

• Inducted into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators, 1995
• Nominated for Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, 1998 and 1995
• Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching,1992; awarded at the national level
• Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 1991 and 1992; awarded at the state level
• Consultant and writer for Ideal School Supply Company's Science Connections K-6 series of science activity books
• Consultant for Private Universe Project of the Science Education Department of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
• Initiator and Facilitator of K-2 Whole Learning Support Group in Melrose Public Schools
• Educational Consultant to the Massachusetts Wildflower Society
• Contributor to guide on science assessment for the new American Schools Corporation Design Team
• Developer of K-8 Rainforest Resource Kit under LAUNCH Foundation grant

Last Modified: October 7, 2004