Mrs. Haarhues-Casey

I was born and raised in Winterset, Iowa. I ran cross country and was a member of the color guard in high school. From there, I attended the University of Northern Iowa and majored in biology education. My first teaching job was at Riverside High School in Oakland, Iowa. I taught biology, anatomy & physiology, environmental science, advanced biology, science issues, chemistry, and physical science. I was the head coach for boys’ and girls’ cross country and took both teams to state for the first time in school history as well as the assistant coach for girls’ track all 8 years. While at Riverside, I pursued and earned my Master’s Degree in science education. I wrote my thesis on using novels in the science classroom to encourage a love of reading and generate a higher interest in science.

I met my husband during my first year of teaching. After 8 years of teaching at Riverside, we decided to move to Australia, the country where he was originally from. We sold most of our belongings and moved to Brisbane in the state of Queensland. I got a job at Hills International College in the town of Jimboomba. Hills was a K-12 school, a language college, and a golf academy. It was the school where Jason Day went when he lived in Australia. Kids from the area, all over Australia, and several Asian countries came to Hills to learn English, learn how to golf, and get an education. While there, I taught all grades between year 7 and year 12. Their school system was a bit different to the US, but it was a fantastic opportunity where I met amazing people and had a great experience!

After 2 years, we had a baby boy and moved back to the United States as I had gotten a job at Lewis Central Middle School. Since teaching at the middle school, I have worked with an amazing counterpart, Kelly Carr, who helps me to become a better teacher. The 7th grade team is incredible to work with and I have found some of my closest friends at this job. My husband and I have since added another child, a little girl, to our family.

This summer I had an opportunity to work with the Henry Doorly Zoo to study their butterfly populations at their Wildlife Safari Park over in Ashland, Nebraska. I learned a lot in 6 weeks and have a greater respect and love of butterflies than ever before! I’ve had other summer research opportunities, one was studying the potential impact of the emerald ash borer on Cedar Falls, Iowa as well researching viruses in the soil that infect the anthrax bacteria. Science is NEVER boring!

My teaching philosophy is that students GET to learn. While in college, I used to meet with my friends every evening and we would hash out our day. I didn’t realize it, but I used to say “Guess what I got to learn about today!” One day my friend Jill said to me “Hannah, why do you GET to learn while I HAVE to learn?” That really stuck with me and helped me to realize that (1) I love learning and (2) not everyone enjoys learning. I have tried to pass on that idea to my students--they GET to come to school and they GET to learn about science. They have this amazing opportunity to be smarter each and every day! I am starting my 6th year at Lewis Central and my 16th year total in education. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Twitter Handle: @caseyscience7

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