“I love kindergarten! Every day is an adventure and an opportunity for students to learn something new and exciting, from reading and writing to making friends, learning school skills, and building community.” With enthusiasm and passion, Hadley Haugabook shares her experience as she enters her classroom and teaches young learners.
From a tender age, Mrs. Haugabook wanted to become a teacher. She continued to follow her dreams and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Auburn University and a Master’s degree in Childhood Education from Auburn University of Montgomery. Graduate school provided her with opportunities to substitute at different local schools.
Montgomery Academy captured her heart from the first time she entered the doors. She shares, “I knew I would grow as a teacher and a person with all the amazing influences and opportunities available at Montgomery Academy.”
While Mrs. Haugabook is impacting young lives, her goals consist of every student being understood and known, building a classroom community, and instilling a sense of joy in learning. She believes in spending time developing relationships with children while seeing each student for who they are and helping them be their best selves. And another component of her teaching plans is making learning fun and invoking a love for school.
Though teaching is rewarding, it also comes with challenges like anything else. Hadley shares, “Some people not in the education profession deem it an 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM, nine-month-a-year job. We pour ourselves into our work, and we are teachers all the time, not just at school. We want the best for every student.”
As an educator, Hadley is delighted to witness the amazing things that happen as the youngest learners grow and blossom in just one school year. One of her favorite quotes is by Robert Fulghum, “All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten.”
For this Teacher of the Month, it’s difficult to imagine retirement being outside the classroom. So, she envisions she might still serve as a teacher or work with children, whether in a school setting, church, or anywhere else.
Hadley Haugabook is from Montgomery and has been married to Cheney for 18 years. The couple has a 14-year-old daughter, Virginia, a 9th grader at Montgomery Academy.