Robert Hand began teaching Family and Consumer Sciences at Mount Vernon High School in 2013. He has taught Beginning Foods, Life After High School, Careers in Education, Nutrition, and Leadership. He has also been an adviser for Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) and Social Justice Club. He has taken students to national competitions where they have earned top honors. Hand enjoys taking on new challenges and helping every student realize the potential he sees in them.

Hand is a bundle of energy and positivity. Between classes, music spills from his classroom, and he is in the hall greeting kids with a smile, a fist bump, or a unique handshake he shares with them. Hand makes a point to say hello to every student to make them feel visible and welcome. If you enter his classroom at any point in the day, you might find him teaching students how to deconstruct a chicken and make three meals out of it on a budget, teaching how to balance a budget, or teaching students about what it takes to pursue their dream of becoming a teacher.

Hand also takes advantage of any opportunity he can to perfect his craft and contribute to his school culture. He's been a member of the School Engagement and Culture Committee as well as the District Equity Team in Mount Vernon. He was also instrumental in helping to develop an online curriculum for the Recruiting Washington Teachers program for the Professional Educator Standards Board.

Hand holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Western Washington University and a Master of Science in Family and Consumer Science Education from Central Washington University.