Mrs. Hartman always knew she wanted to be a teacher “I never really considered doing anything else,” she says.
At first, she thought she’d teach elementary school, but she realized she liked working with older students better. She started teaching in 2016 at Bloomfield High School but then she left in 2018 to compete for Team USA in Bobsled and Skeleton. When COVID hit, she decided to return to teaching and joined River Dell in January 2021.
History has always been her favorite subject, “I loved the stories behind the facts,” she explained. “Good teaching is like telling an interesting story.” She works hard to make sure her students stay engaged, even with topics that aren’t that exciting.
“I really like Mrs. Hartman’s teaching style because she ties in the lessons with the real world that actually help me when I’m older” recalled Justin Kim, a freshman and current student of Mrs. Hartman.
The best part of teaching for her isn’t the subject itself, it’s the students, “That’s what makes it all worth it.” she says. She also coached track for years and loved the strong bonds with the athletes.
Outside of school, she spends most of her time with her seven-month-old daughter, watching her grow and learn new things.
A memorable teaching experience for Mrs. Hartman was with a student who completely hated school. He was trouble to most teachers as he barley came to class, refused to sit down, and most teachers believed he wouldn’t graduate. But Mrs. Hartman didn’t give up on him.
She helped him find parts of history he liked and enjoyed and created strategies to help him get his work done. By the end of the year, he was studying for finals. “He wrote me a note saying he never liked coming to school because he felt like all the teachers thought he was a failure,” she stated. “He started to want to come in when he realized that I didn’t think that he was. I knew that I had picked the right career when I read the note he left for me.”
Teaching can be challenging sometimes. She stated teaching at River Dell in the middle of COVID was tough for her. “I didn’t know any of the students and they didn’t know me which was hard because the best part of teaching is the students,”
She hopes her students leave her class with skills that will help them in real life. “I know history isn’t everyone’s favorite subject,” she recalls, “I hope that students can find one thing that they like and that they’ll remember when they move on through high school.”
“History is my least favorite subject in general, but Mrs. Hartman makes it enjoyable with her teaching style” said freshman Mike Koth, another student of Mrs. Hartman.
For her, the best part of teaching is seeing her students succeed, especially people who struggle in the beginning or see success after high school. “I love when students come back and tell me something they learned in my class helped them in college or at work. Sometimes it’s just as simple as, ‘I knew you cared about me, thank you!’”
