Meah Hill is a native of Memphis, Tennessee where she earned her bachelor’s degree from Union University in Psychology and minored in Human Development. While at Union, she interned at Youth Villages, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing residential treatment for at-risk youth. At Youth Villages she learned how to provide treatment for youth with psychiatric disabilities/illnesses, emotional disorders, and/or mental disabilities.
Upon graduation, she was inducted into the 2018-2019 Teach for America Corps (TFA). While at TFA, she was exposed to the field of Social and Emotional Learning. This practice can be defined as the “the vital framework through which people of all ages acquire skills in working towards their own unique goals, comprehending and managing their emotions, nurturing positive relationships, making informed choices, and feeling and exhibiting empathy.” (CASEL, 2020)
While at Teach For America, Meah taught 6th grade literacy at Thurgood Marshall Middle school (TMM). While at TMM, Meah learned the importance of SEL practices. SEL aims to develop students’ social and emotional competence so that individuals can thrive in diverse cultures, achieve specific tasks and positive developmental outcomes (Mahoney et al., 2021) This experience depthen her desire to discover more equitable, culturally-sustaining forms of Social Emotional Learning.
Her passion led Meah to earn a Master’s Degree in Social Emotional Learning from National University where she graduated with distinction. Currently, Meah works at International Community School in Atlanta, Georgia. International Community School (ICS) is a DeKalb County, Georgia K-5 IB PYP charter school with the special mission of educating recently arrived refugee children alongside American-born children. Meah’s career and scholarship agenda is to aid in the development of a globally recognized SEL program framework in which the ultimate aim is to create a classroom culture that promotes healthy and proactive support for student success regardless of geography, nationality, creed, class or ethnicity.