Paula Robinson Moore ’94

When Paula Robinson Moore ’94 signed up for French in junior-high school, she never anticipated it would shape the rest of her life, much less lead her toward recognition as one of the finest educators in the country. But she quickly fell in love with the language and realized that she had a knack for it. The summer before her senior year of high school, she traveled to France as an exchange student. That sealed the deal—French would be part of her future. As it turned out, so would Dickinson.

“Dickinson was my first-choice college,” she recalls. “I knew that with Dickinson’s study-abroad program, I would have the opportunity to go back to France.”

To augment her French major, she taught French to local elementary students, participated in the language tables and was a teaching assistant for Michael Kline, professor emeritus of French and Italian.

Moore spent her junior year studying in Toulouse, France. After graduating from Dickinson, she studied at the Institut de Touraine and earned a Certificate in French Studies. She later earned a master’s in curriculum and instruction from Hood College and is working toward a second master’s in educational leadership.
Moore began applying for French teaching jobs while still at Dickinson, and she was offered—and happily accepted—the first job for which she applied. And Williamsport High School in Washington County, Md., is where Moore has remained for 13 years.

“I love my students. I love the community. I really like the school,” Moore says. “I’m really proud of the program I’ve built.”

And she should be proud. Moore has been recognized locally and nationally for her “interactive and student-centered” approach to teaching. She is a five-time Who’s Who recipient (1998, 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2006). In 1999, she received the Hagerstown/Washington County Chamber of Commerce Award for Excellence in Education and was nominated for Washington County Teacher of the Year, and in 2004 she received a Star Staff Award from Williamsport High School.

In 2005, Moore earned two Washington County Public Schools Golden Apple Awards for superior job performance, was Williamsport’s citizen of the month, earned Washington County Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for Maryland Teacher of the Year.

In 2006, Moore was one of only 20 educators nationwide selected by USA Today to the All-USA Teacher Team.

With this amazing array of accomplishments, what’s next for Moore? On July 1, she will begin her new position as Washington County’s Mentor Resource Teacher. She will work with new teachers to help them with policies, management and lesson plans.

“I have had great mentors and have always wanted to be a mentor myself,” she says. “I have been given so many talents, and I want to keep on giving the gift that I have.”

Moore lives in Hagerstown, Md., with husband Doug and twin daughters Kelsey and Lauren, 5.

back to awards page