Apple-picking enthusiast and social studies teacher Gia Hagedorn has been teaching for eight years around Massachusetts. She taught at Walpole High School before transferring here last year and has taught a variety of history-related subjects throughout her years of teaching. Hagedorn loves summer weather, and if you ever want to get her something from Dunkin’, she would prefer an iced tea or hot chocolate over a coffee.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Has anything stood out to you about the high school so far?
I would say I love the culture here. I love the vibes. I think that both the students and the staff are really welcoming and friendly and are really positive and passionate about what they’re doing, especially my colleagues. I feel really good in this department and my classes have been really great so far. I like the opportunities that are here for not just students but faculty to get involved.
What were some highlights of your summer?
I traveled a lot. I went on my honeymoon to Europe, and I saw Taylor Swift in concert in London. Then I traveled to Iceland with my family, and that was amazing. We did a van tour of the island, and we saw the fjords, and we climbed a glacier, which was probably the highlight because we saw a glacier wall just collapse into the water. So, it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.
What do you like to do outside of teaching?
I play the piano, and I have since I was little. I try to play now as regularly as I can but never as much as I want to. I like to take my dog on walks. I have a Portuguese water dog named Allie; she’s so adorable. She’s only seven-and-a-half months old right now. My husband and I really enjoy playing Dungeons & Dragons with our friends.
What is some advice you have for your students?
They should take their studies seriously and their grades seriously, but I hope they don’t let it define them. I hope that they realize they are more than that, that we are all like the mantra here that’s like, ‘You’re not done.’ I do really like that. I think it might sound like I’m drinking the Kool-Aid, but I really like that you are constantly presented with new opportunities to learn, and I hope that my students hold on to that.
What is the funniest thing that has happened in one of your classes?
One of my first years teaching, I had a student who could be a little rambunctious, and he, for whatever reason, got it into his head that it would be funny to stuff his pockets and every part of clothing with plastic spoons, and then at one point during class just stand up, yell ‘Spoons!’ and then just fling them everywhere. It was one of the weirdest things to happen in class for sure, but in hindsight also very funny. Even as a junior, he would steal the teachers’ carts and go down the hall with them, so in a way he drove me crazy, but I ended up kind of missing him because he was so energetic.
