Nena Hupp, Grade 2 Instructional Team Leader, Worthington Elementary School

May 19th, 2016

Worthington Elementary School Grade 2 Instructional Team Leader Nena Hupp brings a wealth of experiences to the classroom from teaching a wide range of student populations in multiple locations and school systems. In over 20 years as an educator, she’s become known for her proactive communications, her math and other leadership contributions, and her openness to new best practices.

Born in Guam, Hupp came to the United States when she was 16 years old to live with her brother, who she describes as a “father figure.” She moved around the country a few times until settling in Maryland 20 years ago. In urban and suburban settings, she’s taught regular education, special education and gifted and talented populations in both early and intermediate grades. Hupp said these experiences “gave me a good perspective of cultures and what is important to families in different areas. By understanding different populations, it helps me as a teacher understand people and has made me the teacher I am today.”

After Hupp’s many experiences teaching in other school systems, she said, “Moving to Howard County felt like a dream. This is a fantastic county as far as the population and resources. Here the parents are involved, there’s a lot of professional development and students are really ready, so you see academic progress faster.” Hupp considers Worthington her professional home because of its community of friendly staff, supportive families and willing students, adding “the students keep me motivated as a teacher.” Hupp proactively communicates with her parents because she firmly believes that education is a “three-way partnership between the teacher, student and parents. The home has a big impact on the success of a child.”

Hupp didn’t always know she was meant to be a teacher, but in college she quickly learned that engineering, her parents’ dream for her, was not meant to be. Instead she discovered psychology at the University of New Mexico, enabling her to understand herself and empathize with others better. Hupp was considering nursing as a career option until she visited her roommate’s graduate class in special education. Hupp said that in that classroom, “I fell in love with education. My psychology undergraduate degree helped me realize how I can help others, then I applied that to my master’s in special education.”

Though Hupp teaches all the subjects, she has a particular interest in math instruction, which stems from her original engineering career plans. She has become an early education math leader in the HCPSS, especially with the rollout of Common Core standards throughout the county and in her school, as demonstrated in this Education Week article. Hupp welcomed teaching 2nd grade this year, after several years in kindergarten, partially to familiarize herself with the 2nd grade math curriculum. With an affinity for the primary grades, Hupp ultimately would like to teach all the levels up to 5th grade to see first-hand how the Common Core math curriculum flows between grades.

In addition to math, Hupp has taken on many leadership roles over the years, such as heading committees, providing professional trainings and serving as team leader. Now as the 2nd grade instructional team leader, she supports her team’s continued transition to county best practices in math and reading. Hupp said, “As team leader, you have to balance what your team, parents and administration want to make it all work. You have to believe what you’re doing for the kids is the right thing.” Hupp continued, “When you consider all the things that are changing in society, I need to stay current with best practices to prepare our kids to be more complete learners when they go into the workforce.” Hupp credits the school’s participation in the strengths initiative to help her understand how to better work with her team and their strengths.

Worthing Elementary School Acting Principal Susan Webster said, “Nena clearly loves her students. And what I like so much about Nena in the short time that I’ve gotten to know her is that she’s an open-minded teacher. Nena brings another perspective, a willingness with another set of eyes. She’s also a learner. Everything she asks of her students, she does herself.”