My name is Kristen Hayaski. I'm 21 years old. I just got married June 14, 2014. I have lived in Mobile, Alabama my entire life. I love to travel and plan to travel a lot more in the future. I have been to Matagalpa, Nicaragua (2012 and 2013) and to Lima, Peru (2014) on missions trips. On these trips we visited orphanages and schools and were about to see how different the schools are in these countries.
Before I came to the University of South Alabama I attended Faulkner State community college. During my time at Faulkner State I decided that I wanted to become a teacher. My original plan was to become a dental hygienist and quickly realize that that wasn't for me. I have always wanted to be a teacher, so I decided to go for it. My plan now is to teach for as long as I feel like it and to eventually become a counselor in an elementary school. My husband is actually a teacher. He teaches history and coaches football and baseball at Citronelle high school. He will be starting his classes in January to become an administrator, and we may get to graduate together.
My husband and I both love missions work and education and plan to combine both of them to one day to teach in other parts of the world. We also want to open our own school and orphanage. We have big dreams and I truly believe that we will accomplish them.
I also love art. Painting, drawing, and any crafty project. I enjoy being creative and doing things on my own rather than just buying the cookie cutter version of something from the store. I am excited to do fun activities with my students and show them different ways to do things and be creative. I want to instill in them at a young age that it is good to be different and to think outside of the box. I feel like in today's society children need that. There needs to be more educators that teach life lessons and things that they will use for the rest of their lives instead of just teaching from a book. That's what I plan to do as a teacher; teaching children how to become successful adults who do not rely on others to determine their happiness. I want my students to know that no matter what people say about them, they are good enough and they can accomplish what they set their mind to.
My husband and I are leading a team from our church on a missions trip in July, to the Dominican Republic (One Nation One Day 2015). We are going with an organization called missions.me, along with 2,500 other missionaries from around the world to do street ministry, and projects such as building 100 homes for needy families, digging water wells, providing medical and dental aid to those who never get medical attention, and much more. I could go on and on about this trip. It is such an amazing opportunity. This is only the second time a trip of this size has been attempted. The first trip (One Nation One Day 2013) was in Honduras and they were very successful in reducing crime rates and boosting school attendance. I am very excited for this opportunity.
I love how you plan to adapt your interests into your classroom. I am also going on a mission trip at the end of July to Guatemala so I know the excitement you're feeling for going. We'll also be building houses and visiting a feeding center where they feed children and give them an education. I agree that students, no matter their background, should feel that they are good enough to accomplish their dreams and I am glad to be reading that other future teachers believe that their role extends to more than just delivering a lesson to the students--it's instilling life lessons into their minds.
ReplyDeleteEncouraging students to be creative and use their imagination is very important. Students will be much more engaged in the learning process and enjoy it. You have a passion for working with children it sounds like and that is wonderful. Teaching is a very rewarding job!
ReplyDeleteI like how you plan to teach your students different ways to learning. Things cannot be just told to students and teachers expect them to know things. Also, students should learn to be creative and to think "outside the box" this will help the to be successful adults.
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