Stephanie Zhao and Sofia Ardon also contributed to this article
With a new school year kicking off, new staff have joined Malden High. Each one of these new faces are determined to make a difference in their students’ lives with their teaching. Malden High School has welcomed Hannah Whalen as a new 11th grade World History teacher.
Before coming to Malden, Whalen did her student teaching at Somerville High. She also worked in after-school programs and has been a preschool teacher. She has always wanted to work in education, graduating from UMass Amherst, where she studied history.
Growing up in Lexington, her interest in history came from the love of learning it. “I also really loved just talking about history with other people in my life, whether that was my friends or family,” Whalen shared. Her previous experience working with students across different age groups helped her prepare for her new role at Malden High School.
Whalen believes that the most important and memorable part of teaching is “being able to spend the day with the students and really getting to learn with” them, which influenced her to teach in Malden. “I wanted to be at a school that was very community-oriented.” Outside of being a teacher, Whalen dedicates her time to reading books, doing ceramics, and spending quality time with her family.
As she spends time with her students and learns with them, the biggest impact she wants to have on her students is to instill confidence in them and remind them they can do anything they aspire to. History teacher Kurtis Scheer complimented her “great personality,” because “she’s got a really calm demeanor that is reassuring but also clear and easy to get along with.”
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