I have a particular kinship with Lee Hall not only because he has variously been my teacher, advisor, and friend for the last thirteen years, but also because we showed up at Hotchkiss at the same time. Of course, in 1990, I was a Prep, fresh out of junior high, and Lee was coming from a position where he'd been managing computer systems for an entire school district.
In fact, when you look at his history before Hotchkiss, Leland Hall had already dedicated himself to learning everything he could about the combination of computer technology and education with the goal of using that knowledge both to teach students and to educate other educators. Starting as an elementary school teacher and computer systems manager in Boothbay Maine, Lee went on to receive his Masters Degree in Computers in Education from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. During his professorship at Central Connecticut State University he taught Applications, Computer Literacy for Teachers, and Integration of Computers into Science and Math Education. Lee's dedication to that work only continued at Hotchkiss.
From the beginning of his time in Lakeville, Lee worked tirelessly to bring computer technologies into many other departments, from the perhaps expected math and sciences to the more unusual english, foreign languages, visual arts and even drama. He showed all of them opportunities to teach in new ways, whether it was laying out Creative Writing Chap Books in Pagemaker, visualizing complex mathematical equations in three dimensions, or taking the manipulation of photographs to a whole new digital level. His dedication to the enhancement of teaching at Hotchkiss through the use of computers has been manifest.
At the same time Lee has overseen the immense growth of Hotchkiss's computer labs from a handful of Mac LCs and PC 386's back in 1990 to the present facility which rivals many colleges in the power and capabilities it makes available to students and teachers. Thanks to him, plotters, scanners, 'smart whiteboards', and such are now commonplace in the labs and the knowledge of how to use them is commonplace in the faculty and students.
Which brings us to his teaching. The classes Lee has taught at Hotchkiss have ranged from the use of the simplest applications through digital photography and into advanced computer programming. Some of my best friends first learned spreadsheets, databases and simple graphics from him. Others were guided through the intricacies of Photoshop, producing amazing works of art. In fact several of his students this year won the Connecticut Art Education Association's Scholastic Art Award. Finally, I and a few others back then (but many more nowadays) learned from him the designs of computers themselves and how to expand what they do through one's own imagination, will, and a good development environment.
But the main thing I always remember about Lee's teaching is his infectious enthusiasm, insatiable intellectual curiosity, and for lack of a better word 'touch'. Lee's students have ranged from master code slingers to neophyte freshmen just learning proper word processing, and some teachers who started out knowing even less. But in every class and with every student the image that sticks in my memory is Lee Hall looking over a shoulder to help and encourage, or especially to learn and note some new amazing thing that a student has come up with or stumbled on to.
In such a fast moving field as computer technology, one of the things that has made Lee such a wonderfully effective teacher is that he is always right there learning new things alongside the students, and he lets them know that. Instead of being lectured too, students are guided through a new world not yet fully explored. Lee shows them the paths that he and others have made, but also encourages them to explore 'off the trail' and seems to always relish the astounding finds brought back to him. It is this quality of sharing in the learning process that has endeared him to so many of his students, myself included.
Finally, beyond his academic achievements and those of his students, and on a more personal note Leland Hall has also been an amazing advisor and friend. For all that I learned from him about computers and programming, it's what he taught me about living in the world that I have found most valuable over the years. He managed to convince a mule-stubborn anti-social Prep and Lower Mid that yes, other people do actually matter, even if it sometimes seemed they shouldn't. For that hard fought revelation alone he has my eternal thanks. And for all of these reasons and many more, he will be greatly missed by students, alumni and faculty alike.
So, Lee, if you would please come up here, we'd like to present this Memory Book to you, and give you our thanks for thirteen wonderful years.