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Prior days' news: By date | Search This week's print issue Back issues: By date | Search April 18, 2007Rachael Elizabeth HillWith faith, intelligence, and humor, Rachael Elizabeth Hill, 18, didn’t want for much — except maybe another pair of brightly colored sneakers or high heels. “She had shoes to go with just about every single outfit,” says Clay P. Fogler, the school administrator at Grove Avenue Christian School, in Richmond, which Ms. Hill attended from kindergarten through 12th grade. Even in her school uniform or dressed to defeat a volleyball opponent, with her parents perpetually looking on, Ms. Hill knew how to shine with those shoes. Not that people were looking at her feet. They were more likely to keep their eyes on her flexible wrists and nimble fingers. She started piano lessons when her legs were still dangling off the bench and just kept on playing. As a setter for the school’s volleyball team, she was “all business,” Mr. Fogler says, and, as a senior, she was selected as team captain and honored as the most valuable player in her league.  “When Rachael and I played volleyball, it felt so natural and free,” wrote one of her high-school friends on a memorial Facebook page. Off the court, Ms. Hill was all laid-back grace, Mr. Fogler says. And quick-fire ingenuity, adds Marie C. Teodori, her former science instructor and mentor. A freshman at Virginia Tech, Ms. Hill told Ms. Teodori she was definitely leaning toward a major in biochemistry and a career in nanotechnology when she joined current Grove students three weeks ago at a banquet celebrating their scientific research. Ms. Hill always loved science, Ms. Teodori says, and she distinguished herself with probing questions. “It was not enough for her to know the facts of science, she always wanted to know: Why are these the facts? What does this mean? And how can this be useful?” she says. During Ms. Hill’s junior year of high school, Ms. Teodori says, she begged to do a special research project and ultimately spent part of the year studying the human nervous system. Her request, Ms. Teodori says, has empowered other students to follow her example. Curiosity and faith came together in Ms. Hill’s “sweet spirit,” says Peter A. Teodori, Marie’s husband and Ms. Hill’s Bible and calculus teacher. Her favorite Bible verse, Mr. Teodori recalls, was from Song of Solomon, 8:5: “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” —Sierra Millman Posted on Wednesday April 18, 2007 | Permalink | |