Academic

emainder of my teaching years at the Academy.”
WITNESS TO POSITIVE CHANGES AT GPA
El-Hosni says since joining the faculty at
the Academy, she’s seen many big changes and
improvements at the school.
“We are a leading school in our area in
technology and one-to-one tablet usage,” she
said. “And our STEM lab has allowed students to
experiment and explore like never before. And
let’s not forget the student’s garden, which has
become a real gathering space where students,
teachers, and sometimes even parents, work,
plant, play, eat, or just enjoy reading in the shade.”
El-Hosni also loves the fact that GPA is not
basking in its own glow or resting on its laurels.
“It seems we are constantly looking for ways to
improve the learning process for our students,”
she said. “In my own classes, for example, I try to
challenge my students and push them out of their
comfort zone. They learn by asking questions,
researching topics, coming to logical conclusions
through trial and error, even in French grammar
and writing. I believe you can’t reach your
potential unless you are challenged.”
But she’s also a big believer in the nurturing
part of the school’s central mission.
“I make sure my students always know they
are in a safe environment, and that it’s okay to
fall and make mistakes, as long as they are willing
to get up and try again. Some students might
be afraid or reticent with such an approach, but
in the end they usually rise up to the challenge
and realize why I was pushing them. After all,
this school is all about nurturing potential, and
allowing students to discover their own strengths.”
El-Hosni’s own three children, who are all
pretty much on their own now, were raised with
the same philosophy, she said, where good enough
is not good enough.
It appears that her kids definitely benefitted
from such an approach.
“My oldest studied engineering at U-M,
then finished an MBA at Maryland University,”
El-Hosni said. “Today she handles international
business development for a defense company
and lives in Washington, DC, with her husband.
My youngest went into engineering as well, and
lives in Chicago. He is working for Union Pacific,
and is living every little boy’s dream of working
with trains.” Her other daughter graduated in the
spring from medical school, where she specialized
in both internal medicine and pediatrics.
El-Hosni is glad her children are doing
well and on their own now. It gives her even
more time to concentrate on her charges at the
Academy.
It is apparent that she just flat out loves her
job and loves teaching. “Bearing witness to these
young people when they have their epiphanies
about who they can be and what they can achieve
is the greatest pleasure and honor in the world,”
she said. “I’m not going anywhere else anytime
soon!”
“Something magical happened,
I swear to this day I could practically
hear that boy’s brain racing though
letters and words as his little hands were
grabbing and aligning the colored
paper to drive the train home.”
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 37