Elisa Murphy, Middle and Upper School Science Department Head and science teacher, was recently honored with Amherst College’s Phebe and Zephaniah Swift Moore Award, which recognizes “some of this country’s outstanding high school teachers.”

 

Murphy was nominated by Spence alumnae Noel Grisanti ’12, Caitlin Merrell ’13 and Olivia Pinney ’13, who graduated from Amherst this May.

 

Murphy is an Amherst alumna, but this is the first time an alum has been honored with the award, which was inaugurated in 1997. Each graduating senior at Amherst is invited to nominate a teacher who made an impact on his or her life, and each year three teachers are chosen by a committee of two faculty members, two graduating seniors and two administrators. Murphy’s award also represents the first time so many students had nominated the same teacher.

 

Recipients of the prize attend Commencement and are recognized with a certificate that pays tribute to their teaching strength and a cash prize. The night before, the recipients and those awarded honorary degrees also attended a reception where Amherst President Biddy Martin spoke about each honoree.

 

Murphy described the three Spence alumnae as excellent, inquisitive students. She said she was incredibly honored by this recognition, especially because she said she did not realize they had enjoyed her classes so much.

 

“I’m so honored,” said Murphy, who has taught at The Spence School for 11 years. “The great thing about teaching is that you get to develop these relationships that extend beyond the classroom.”

 

One of Murphy’s nominating students was Grisanti, a classics major, whom Murphy continues to connect with when in town.

 

“It should be so remarkable that my single most influential teacher … who still advises me on career choices and plays an active role in my life, teaches in a field for which I feel no natural inclination,” Grisanti said.

 

Pinney, a math major, wrote in her nomination that Murphy enabled students to think of themselves as doctors, researchers and teachers.

 

“Every point we got wrong was another opportunity for her to further explain all the wild, and often beautiful, intricacies of living organisms,” Pinney said. “I have never seen so many students take as much initiative to learn beyond the scope of the class.”

 

Merrell, who attended Spence from Kindergarten through senior year, took Murphy’s Advanced Biology class and described her as an engaging teacher, role model and friend.

 

“I looked up to her as an accomplished, intelligent woman in the scientific field, one who I could hope to be one day,” Merrell said. “The mutual respect between us and Ms. Murphy made me want to learn more and perform better in her class.”

 

Murphy made it clear that students should feel comfortable coming to her if they needed to, and Merrell (who majored in art history and math) said she sought this same balance between mutual respect/friendship and mentorship/admiration in her teachers in college. 

 

“Looking back, it is easy to pinpoint Ms. Murphy as an Amherst student, as her intelligence, enthusiasm and respect are all qualities that I have found in my professors throughout my time at Amherst College, but it all started with my time in high school having Ms. Murphy as a teacher.”