Haley Brown

After spending her first year of teaching virtually, Haley Brown is starting her first year at Liberty, teaching 9th grade World Geography and 11th grade US History. Brown has a dual degree in English and History from the University of North Texas.

Wingspan: Why did you want to become a teacher? 

Brown: “I wanted to become a teacher because school was always my favorite place in the world and my favorite parts of it I wasn’t allowed to do as a student, I was always envious of all of the office type work that goes into being a teacher, like I wanted to make the copies and prepare the tests and set out all the supplies and everything like that and then most of all I wanted to be able to talk about a subject I cared about all the time while also being a positive influence on others lives. So I wanted a job where I never had to feel like I stopped going to school but rather that I can make a change in the negative aspects that I saw when I was in school like feeling like certain teachers didn’t care or they were just too mean or that they didn’t care about me they only cared about how well I did or that they only saw me as a grade. And I wanted to make sure that nobody had those kinds of experiences.”

Wingspan: What have you found to be the easiest and hardest parts of teaching?

Brown: “The easiest part so far has been all of the boring stuff like setting up the lectures and deciding what I’m gonna teach every day, but the hardest part for me has been trying not to be too friendly all the time class does need a little bit of structure and organization and that’s where I struggle a little bit because I’m so excited to be back in person.”

Wingspan: How is it having your first year teaching at this school during the pandemic?

Brown: “It’s wonderful, it’s been so nice I feel like there’s definitely a little bit of a lag for everybody to kinda catch back up but there’s also a lot of excitement and a lot of positivity because everybody’s just so excited to be back around all of their friends and back in person.”

Wingspan: What do you like to do during your free time?

Brown: “During my free time I love to read, I love to read just like regular novels, I like a lot of fantasy and horror. They are my favorite genres, and I’m also a comic book collector, so in my free time I love to collect vintage comic books, especially  Spider-Man.”

Wingspan: Why do you like Spider-Man?

Brown: “Spiderman has been my favorite I wouldn’t say superhero but honestly just my favorite thing since I was little. I grew up loving him and my mom was very traditional and I had a princess room not a comic book room even though I love Spider-Man and so it wasn’t until my brother was born that any like comic book related stuff was in the house and i just hoarded all of it as much of it I could get out of his room. So when I became an adult of my own I think I went a little overboard because it was something that was excluded from me that I cared so much about. I never want to apologize for anything that I like and I don’t want anybody else to have to either so that’s why my Spider-Man room is so aggressive because I don’t think I should have to hide something that I care about.” 

Wingspan: What were you like in high school?

Brown: “I was quiet, I was a good student, I didn’t like to talk in class but I  would if I was called on I did all my work. I got mostly A’s and B’s and some C’s there. And then I was in theater so that was my outlet and that was always surprising to everybody because I was always so quiet but that was my favorite place in the whole world.”

Wingspan: What do you enjoy most about your job?

Brown: “Seeing so many different people everyday and getting to have fun and the fact that it’s so many people that I would never meet other than that. And especially since I teach multiple grades there’s a chance that I might get to see kids a few years later and see how they’ve grown. It’s really exciting to me.”

Wingspan: Is this your first year teaching?

Brown: “This is the first full year, I taught eight months of last year all virtual at Wester Middle school in Frisco.”

Wingspan: Do you have any advice for your students?

Brown: “My advice for my students is to not give up. I think that it’s really easy for everyone to think that it’s just them struggling or it’s just them that thinks this is really hard coming back after two years for some of them of the pandemic and it’s not. So just not to give up and to just stay focused and stay positive  because we’re gonna figure it out together.”