About Ruth Hensen

Back in 1995 when Tools of the Mind had just one activity, Buddy Reading, Ruth was the first PreK teacher with whom Deborah Leong and Elena Bodrova worked. In these critical years of Tools’ curriculum development, Ruth helped develop the core aspects of Tools of the Mind—how content was taught, how the Vygostkian tactics would be used, and how children would be paired or grouped. Ruth made each activity something that was implementable within a classroom so that the classroom flowed, and Tools became more than a collection of activities—it became a comprehensive program that progressed through a day.

Since retiring in 2015, Ruth has continued to be a sounding board and advisor for our content development, continuous improvement, and innovation, not to mention a valued friend.

Thank you, Ruth, for 25 years of significant contribution to Tools of the Mind; for your partnership with Deborah Leong and Elena Bodrova translating theory to practice, guiding Tools evolution to become a successful curriculum; your mentoring of our team; the development of many of our professional development and curriculum resources. We are grateful and excited to honor you each year with this new scholarship.

Scholarship applications for the 23/24 school year are now closed. Thank you to those who applied! If you are interested in learning more about opportunities to bring Tools of the Mind to your program, contact us at partnerships@toolsofthemind.org!