The thousands of students at Hoover High School who have had Hill as their teacher are glad he made the switch .

After starting his career at Ahwahnee Middle School , Hill has been at Hoover for the past 11 years , working with students with orthopedic impairments for seven years before he began teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities .

Hoover Principal Rebecca Wheeler said Hill sees “ the unique gifts of each student .”

“ Mike loves his students . He is consistently patient , positive , and supportive . He believes in his students accomplishing great things and he works hard to ensure his students are fully engaged in the life of the Hoover campus ,” Wheeler said . “ He makes students ’ time at Hoover fun , he gives great pep talks and he ’ s a collaborative team member .”

Hill traces his path to working with students with special needs back to high school , when he became friends with a student

8 FACES : MIKE HILL