Stephanie Young ’00 Receives Mary Louise Leipheimer Excellence in Teaching Award

For the second time in her tenure as a faculty member at Foxcroft, History teacher Stephanie Young ’00 has received the Mary Louise Leipheimer Excellence in Teaching Award from Head of School Cathy McGehee on Thursday, May 30, at the School’s annual Awards Assembly.

“Stephanie clearly cares deeply about her role as a history faculty member,” praised McGehee as she shared words of kindness and appreciation from one of her colleagues. “She finds innovative ways to get students thinking about and discussing difficult topics. She encourages students to discuss current events, within the context of her history lessons … she facilitates this process with her students as thinking, analyzing, sharing, diplomatic, open-minded, intelligent learners.”
 

Hired in 2013 to teach history by former Head of School Mary Louise Leipheimer herself, Young holds a B.A. in International Relations from Syracuse University and a dual Juris Doctor degree from American University’s Washington College of Law and Université de Paris X-Nanterre, France. A member of the New York Bar, Stephanie has served as a contract attorney specializing in French language litigation support. She currently teaches AP Modern World History and United States History and sponsors Foxcroft’s Model United Nations.
 

In closing, McGehee shared, “Ms. Young was selected by her class, Foxcroft Class of 2000, as the student Commencement speaker. In her speech, she wrote, ‘It’s like when you first come here, they give you wings. Well, they don’t give you wings, you’ve always had them. They just say, here, look, this is where your wings have been all along, and it’s up to you whether or not, you are going to learn to fly.’ Stephanie, it is my distinct honor to present the Mary Louise Leipheimer Award for Teaching to you for helping so many Foxcroft students learn to discover their wings and helping them soar.” 

Congratulations, Ms. Young!
 

The Mary Louise Leipheimer Excellence in Teaching Award was established in 2014 by Foxcroft’s Board of Trustees to honor the retiring Head of School who spent 40+ years at the School as a teacher and administrator. It recognizes a classroom teacher with a tenure of at least three years who “connects with and challenges each student to develop her analytical ability, critical and independent thinking, communication skills, and personal integrity.” Additional past recipients of the award are Maria Evans, Ph.D., Susan Erba, Steven McCarty, John Scharfenberg, Alex Northrup, the entire 2020-21 faculty team, Julie Fisher, and Karin Thorndike.