By Lola Seiter
Hailey Arango has quickly integrated herself into the LREI society. Joining the school in the middle of the year can be difficult, but Hailey has overcome those challenges, and is already a thriving new member of the LREI community; making herself known by participating in the lip-sync! We interviewed Hailey Arango, the new science teacher at LREI, to introduce her to the students and faculty, and help everyone get to know her a little better. Below are the questions we asked Hailey and her responses:
- Where did you grow up and go to high school?
“So I grew up between the West Village and Western New York, New Jersey, so back and forth. But I went to high school in Jersey at a big, STEM-like school. But yeah, no. I’m very happy that I get to be here. And I like that I get to bring a lot of my life experience, my field experience, my expertise outside of a high school setting to you guys. It’s the best part. I think my high school was quite different. My high school experience was ultra academic. It was super competitive. We didn’t have sports because we were so academic. Which I think at the time was a good thing, but I also think that it took away from like a strong sense of school spirit, and being able to kind of invest in learning for the sake of learning, not for the sake of, you know, getting excellent grades or thinking about college all the time. And I think what’s nice about LREI is I think all of you are really interested in learning, but you’re more interested in learning via your own experience. So you let your passion drive your education, and I think that’s really really nice and something that I didn’t have in my own high school experience and something that I wanted to have in my own high school experience. So I think being here has given me the opportunity to be the teacher I always wanted. And now I can provide that for you, which I think is great.”
- Have you ever taught at any other schools? How are they different from LREI?.
“Okay. Well, I’ve never taught at any other high school. I’ve always taught at the collegiate level. So before LREI, I was at Fordham University, and it was fabulous. So being at LREI is a little bit different, but it’s been great. I’ve been really happy here. So far, so good!”
- What is the thing that you love most about LREI, from what you have experienced so far?
“Oh my gosh. So many things. The faculty is fantastic. Everyone in my department is amazing and they’ve been very kind and have helped me ingratiate myself into the LREI community. I like that all the students are really congenial and really kind to one another. I think that’s wonderful. I like that everyone is so supportive of one another. I think that’s really nice. And I think it’s sweet that altruism is a big part of being an LREI community member, which is always nice to see.”
- Which LREI core values align with your own?
“Goodness. I think the idea of making education, in particular within my department, making STEM education equitable and accessible for all is really important. I think when we’re trying to become good and critical thinkers, good scholars, good humans, understanding that a holistic approach is really important. I also need to further emphasize the need for an open and welcoming rhetoric. So thinking about anti discrimination, anti racism, and just making a safe space for all kinds of learners is important and making sure that everyone’s voice is heard. All of that is really, really nice and something that I value about being here.”
- How has the LREI community treated you so far, upon your arrival to the school?
“Oh my gosh. It’s been spectacular. I’ve had a fabulous time. I think, you know, I’m still learning everything, and I’m still learning everyone’s names and getting used to everything. But I think I’ve done a great job at developing interpersonal relationships with a lot of my students. And, you know, I love when they come to office hours to, like, ask me things or just to hang out or when they see me at lunch. And even, like, my colleagues are always so excited. The lip sync I think was a great opportunity for all of us to get together. It was a really nice way of kind of throwing myself into the heart of LREI and kind of figuring it out from there. And yeah everyone’s very supportive and super welcoming.. And I think my students received me very warmly, which I wasn’t anticipating. So I’ve been very happy!
- LREI a progressive school. What does progressive mean to you? How has it been adjusting to this very progressive environment?
“When I think about progressive education, right, I think about the importance of making my students well equipped and well prepared for the world that awaits them, which is different from the world that awaited me. I was your age many many years ago and times have changed and things are different. And I think my goal is to make sure that I’m facilitating your learning experience however it is that you see fit, how I receive it most appropriate for the things that you’re interested in, and I want to make sure that I’m giving you life skills, right? So like of course I want you to be like, great at evolution, I want you to be great at genetics, environmental science, chem, all of that. That’s wonderful, but that’s only one aspect of me being an instructor, of me being an educator. I want to make sure that I’m making you excited about the world, but also giving you the thinking tools to make sure that you’re making the best of your opportunities in life. And in terms of adjusting I think, you know, given that my high school experience was very different and my collegiate experience was also very different, not only as a student but also as a professor. I think I was always the most progressive of all the educators, and now I’m in an environment where I’m surrounded by progressive educators and we’re all on the same page, and I think we’re all working toward one common goal, and that’s to make sure that all of you are stellar, right? In every way, not only academically but also personally. And that’s been great. I don’t think it’s been much of an adjustment as much as it’s been like an exciting challenge that I’ve been slowly kind of tackling.”
- How do you feel that you can make LREI a better place?
“I feel like LREI has made me a better person. I think obviously I can only speak to the ‘sciences’ because that’s what I contribute to here. I think showing my students the reality of science in terms of what it looks like as a career, and what the impact of sciences in their daily lives is really important. I think being able to show them, like, real data, cutting edge research, everything that I’ve been able to contribute to and allowing them a chance at trying it or putting it into practice is really important. What I think I’ve also been able to contribute to the LREI community in terms of me being here in the science department is I’ve really kind of opened the door and kind of crossed barriers, not only interdisciplinary, right? Because I teach environmental science, I teach evolution genetics, I teach chemistry, but also making sure that my students know that there is no such thing as a silly question, there is no such thing as a dumb question. When we think about science the whole purpose is about being curious right and kind of delving into the unknown. Be it things that I don’t know myself or things that I maybe haven’t heard before. So entertaining all of those ideas, I think, is important. And I think in terms of my courses, my students know that they kind of have an open playing field. They can ask me anything, and I’m willing to show them anything, and there’s nothing that’s too hard or impossible for us to tackle in or out of our classroom.”
In conclusion, we are thrilled to welcome our new science teacher, Hailey Arango, to the LREI community. With her enthusiasm and humor, she is sure to be a helping hand throughout the day. We can’t wait for everyone to get to know her and experience her positive energy in the classroom. Reading this article, we hope you got to know Hailey a little better, and that you will stop by and introduce yourself in the next few days—Hailey is eager to meet all of us and help make this school year the best it can be!