On April 10, 2014, AP Chemistry teacher Mr. Coit Hendley was honored with the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award.

According to The Washington Post, which presents the award, winners “are examples of what works in the classroom.”

When asked what works in his classroom, Mr. Hendley said “it is a combination of a lot of things: experienced teachers, supportive administration, working with a good staff, and students who want to learn.”

Principal Mr. McNeill and Science and Technology Program coordinator Ms. Jane Hemelt nominated Mr. Hendley for this and several other awards. Mr. Hendley said they “have been very supportive.”

Mr. Hendley has achieved many great accomplishments in his 23 years at Eleanor Roosevelt High School including the highest number of African American students passing the Advanced Placement Chemistry exam in the country in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010, the only years the College Board chose to recognize this achievement.

He was named one of two top high school STEM teachers by the National Science and Technology Association and Pasco Scientific in 2013, and more recently, was named the Science and Technology Teacher of The Year at the 2014 Science and Technology Symposium.

According to Mr. Hendley, he is most proud of the Science and Technology Teacher of the Year award. “Of all the awards I’ve won, this is the most important,” said Hendley.

Many ERHS students believe that Mr. Hendley is “what works in the classroom.”

Senior Anish Jain, who had Mr. Hendley for AP Chemistry in eleventh grade, says that Mr. Hendley is “the greatest teacher ever” and a “Chemistry God.”

Jain describes one of his fondest memories of Mr. Hendley as during the 2013 AP Chemistry exam. Before every test in class, the class and Mr. Hendley chant together “It’s test time!”, and then begin. According to Anish, Mr. Hendley walked into “the AP test and starts chanting ‘AP Chem’. The entire room chants with him and shouts ‘It’s test time!’ The proctors’ faces were hilarious.”

This is just one of many charming anecdotes of Mr. Hendley’s funny antics and “dedicated, hard-working spirit,” said Jain.