La Crosse school’s Maggie McHugh named Wisconsin Middle School Teacher of Year

It came as a bit of a surprise for Dr. Maggie McHugh but no surprise for her colleagues and students.

The sixth grade teacher at La Crosse Design Institute was named Wisconsin’s Middle School Teacher of the Year.

McHugh, who also receives $3,000 for the honor from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation, said her success is partly due to reaching the students in various formats including reading, listening to a podcast or engaging them in class dialogue.

McHugh, a Sparta, Wis., native, also teaches a class at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

She was honored in a surprise ceremony Friday at the school.  

McHugh does several different projects throughout the year, including one called “Walls,” where students learn about barriers that divide people by race, socioeconomic status or gender. 

She’s also credited with working with new math and science teachers, helping them implement the STEM formula into their curriculum.

McHugh earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on social justice mathematics from New Mexico State University. She holds bachelor and master’s degrees from UW-La Crosse.

La Crosse Design Institute is a project-based learning charter school in the La Crosse School District.

Students take elective classes such as music, physical education and technology education at Longfellow Middle School.

McHugh began at the La Crosse Design Institute in 2013. Previously, she was at the Brookhill Institute of Mathematics in Waukesha, UW-La Crosse and Bangor High School.