Hartford Union High School announces Educator of the Year Ben Hoffmann | By Teri Kermendy

April 29, 2020 –Hartford, WI – Hartford Union High School is proud to announce the Educator of the year for 2020, Ben Hoffmann.

Ben Hoffmann grew up in Hartford and is the son of two former HUHS teachers.  He learned early on from his parents and two brothers about the importance of striving to be the best you can be.  Perfection was never expected but striving for excellence was.  Ben graduated from HUHS in 1993.  During his high school years, he was in the National Honors Society and H-club, attended Badger Boys State, and received the DAR Good Citizen Award.  He was also a three-sport athlete all 4 years and earned 1st team all-conference in football, basketball, and tennis.

After graduating HUHS, Ben attended UW-Platteville where he majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry, while also earning his secondary education license.  Ben was fortunate to play on some great basketball teams and was a part of 4 conference championships and two undefeated national championships.  Through the team’s success, Ben was able to earn three all-conference awards, and was a two-time All-American, along with being named the Final Four MVP.  Later, Ben was named to the All-Century team for the WIAC conference.

After college Ben began his teaching career at Verona Area High School.  During his six years there he taught Biology, Advanced Biology, and Chemistry while coaching football and basketball.  In 2004, he moved back to Hartford, and taught Biology, Chemistry, and BBG, and coached basketball and tennis.  When the science department needed another teacher to teach Physics, Ben earned his certification and has since taught all levels of physics including AP Physics.

Ben continues to seek ways to grow professionally and has found an additional passion in serving the Hartford community as a licensed EMT.  In the summer of 2018, he passed the National Registry exam and since then has been serving the Hartford community as an EMT for the Hartford Fire and Rescue Department.  This past year Ben began co-teaching the new EMT class with Moraine Park instructors at the high school, and he will take over that class in the 2020-2021 school year.

Ben has been married to his incredible wife Amy for 20 years.  She is a loving wife and wonderful mother to their four kids, Gabe, Abby, Drew, and Alex.

“My wife and children inspire me to be the best person he can be and I would also like to thank the administrators who have supported his growth as a professional.  I feel lucky to have not only had great teachers throughout his schooling, but am privileged to have had such sharing, caring, and influential teachers as colleagues,” said Ben.

Ben has also been influenced by the thousands of students he has taught.  Ben finds each student is a new and exciting challenge, and he has a knack for finding and bringing out the positives in all the students he has taught.