Whether she is teaching biology, zoology or forensics, Bailie Letzring-Hansen says teaching is about both learning and connection.
Letzring-Hansen, a biology teacher at Fremont High School, said many people underestimate how much work teachers do outside the classroom.
“Even though we only work nine months a year, we are still working the other three months,” Letzring-Hansen said.
Letzring-Hansen said many people do not realize how much work teachers continue doing outside school hours.
“When we leave the school building, our job is not done,” Letzring-Hansen said. “A lot of us go home, we grade and we’re constantly worried about the kids. We take on so many roles — it’s not just being a teacher. On Facebook and stuff, you see people comment, ‘Well, they only work nine months a year.’ Yes, but we do a lot in those nine months, so I think that’s one of the biggest misconceptions — we’re always working.”
Teaching was something Letzring-Hansen prepared years for before entering the classroom.
“I did four years at Midland University in their education program, and then I also got my biology degree there,” Letzring-Hansen said.
While teaching comes with challenges, Letzring-Hansen said the content itself is one of her favorite parts of the job.
“The content I teach is so fun, especially forensics,” Letzring-Hansen said. “There’s just so many new things and new discoveries and new forensic cases to look at.”
She also said building relationships with students makes teaching rewarding.
“The kids,” Letzring-Hansen said. “I love getting to chat with you guys and getting to know everyone and watch them grow, especially if I get to teach them as sophomores and then teach them again as juniors and seniors. Going to graduation is always one of my favorite things because I get to see you guys make that huge accomplishment in your life.”
Although she enjoys working with students, Letzring-Hansen said she also loves the subjects she teaches.
“Between the content and the students, I’m pretty tied,” Letzring-Hansen said. “I like both.”
Still, Letzring-Hansen said meetings are her least favorite part of the job.
“All the meetings,” Letzring-Hansen said. “I get it, there’s a need for them. We do learn things in them, but if I could focus more on the content and the kids, that would be way more fun.”
Letzring-Hansen said one thing that continues motivating her as a teacher is the opportunity to constantly learn new things.
“When I first started teaching, one of the classes I had to teach was zoology,” Letzring-Hansen said. “I had never taken a zoology class before because in high school I took anatomy, so it was all human-based. When I started teaching, I completely learned that subject just so I could teach the class, and now I absolutely love it.”
Letzring-Hansen said forensics created a similar learning experience for her as a teacher.
“It’s the same for forensics,” Letzring-Hansen said. “I had never taken a class on forensics and had no clue about it except what I saw on TV, and now I get to teach how wrong TV is. I think my inspiration is just being able to learn something new at any point that I want.”
Her interest in teaching began when she was younger and started helping classmates understand science and math concepts.
“I would help kids in both my math and science class because I was really good at those subjects and my friends were struggling,” Letzring-Hansen said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I really like this feeling. This is cool to help someone understand something that they didn’t before,’ and I think that really pushed me.”
She said her passion for science continued growing throughout high school.
“Then in high school I kind of fell in love with science and all the cool intricacies of it,” Letzring-Hansen said. “I was like, ‘Alright, I guess that’s what I’m going to do,’ so then I became a teacher.”
Letzring-Hansen also offered advice to students interested in becoming teachers.
“I think one of the biggest things is make sure you’re ready,” Letzring-Hansen said. “You can’t even be ready most of the time, so you just gotta be flexible with behaviors that pop up.”