WANDA CLEMENS HILL

Wanda (Jean) Clemens Hill was born on September 19, 1927 in Piqua, Ohio, the daughter of the late Emerson and Viola Clemens. She graduate from Piqua Central High and then graduated with a degree in Music Education from Capital University in Columbus.

Following college graduation, she taught music at Voorhees Junior College for several years, attended Columbia University for special study, then attended Ohio State University where she received a master's degree in Elementary Education. Following her marriage in 1955 to the late Caesar G. Hill, she taught music for five years in Arlington County, VA.

After the birth of her first son, Stephen, she became a "stay at home" mom who enjoyed occasional substitute teaching in the D.C. public schools and volunteer work with her church, the National Symphony Orchestra children's concerts, and with the parents' organizations at her children's schools.

After a visit to several boarding schools with Stephen in 1976, she became quite interested in the exceptional opportunity which these schools provided and an idea for a project began to grow as she investigated even more. When her second son, Gary, subsequently went to boarding school in 1979, she founded Project Match, a program which introduced and exposed children of color from the Washington, D.C. area to these outstanding boarding school opportunities, guided and shepherded them through the application and selection process, and supported them throughout their secondary school enrollment. For twenty five years, she remained executive director of Project Match and always loved and felt fulfilled by the work she did to further the education of children of color.

As a result of her work, which included helping 475 children attend over 80 schools, she received two of the highest awards given in the independent school industry: The Bretnall Award in 1991, the national award given annually by the Secondary School Admission Test Board to one recipient for "exemplary contribution" to independent schools; and the Ruzicka Award in 2016 from The Association for Boarding Schools celebrating "outstanding individuals…who are dedicated to the mission of boarding schools and enriching the boarding school experience for faculty, staff, students and families". In 2021, a faculty house at Groton School in Groton, MA was named in her honor as an acknowledgement of the generational impact of her work on the students she helped and the trailblazing work she did making independent schools more diverse and inclusive.

In addition to her work with students and schools, Wanda also became a secondary school consultant in the area of diversity and multiculturalism. She served on the boards of Potomac School, Groton School, Marvelwood, St. Timothy's, and Foxcroft, as well as two national boards, the Secondary School Admission Test Board and The Association of Boarding Schools Board. As everyone knows, her life emphasis was on education.

She also enjoyed serving her community, working with the McLean (VA) Symphony, the McLean Community Center Governing Board, the McLean Citizens Foundation, and the Fairfax Council of the Arts Advisory Panel, as well as serving on the boards of Capital Partners for Education and the House of Mercy in Washington, D.C.

Wanda is preceded in death by her mother Viola, father Emerson, sister Zanna, sister Colleen and husband Caesar. Her legacy lives through those who carry her memory: her two sons Stephen and Gary, her daughters-in-law Chanté and Joanna, her grandsons Charlie and Luca, her sister Becky, as well as her nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and all those friends and colleagues who blessed her with their presence in her life.

Services to honor Wanda will be held privately at Forest Hill Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are being handled through the Jamieson & Yannucci Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Wanda C. Hill Financial Aid Fund at Groton School (https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/78123/donations/new) or to the charity of your choice in her honor. Guestbook condolences and expressions of sympathy, to be provided to the family, may be expressed through jamiesonandyannucci.com.