Have you ever heard of a teacher that can speak six languages and ride a dirt bike? Well, there happens to be one amongst this year’s new faculty. Ms. Halleran is the new Government and Global 10 teacher. She is most fluent in English, Spanish, and Greek but she can also speak Russian, Farsi, and Polish. With her knowledge of languages she has said that if she could teach any other subject it would be Spanish or simply teaching students other languages. She had a professor who would often tell her that she would become a teacher and teach history to which she would say, “I don’t like history, I don’t want to be a teacher.” Five years later she is doing exactly what he told her she’d be doing. 

What Ms. Halleran appreciates the most about Hampton Bays High School is the sense of community and how the school does not solely focus exclusively on academics or sports but creates students that are well-rounded. However, if Ms. Halleran could change anything, it would be different types of seats so that students aren’t just stuck in desks every period.

Ms. Halleran says the best advice she has ever received was to do things your way, to not follow the conventional way everyone else may follow. It resonated with her because once she began to do her own thing her life changed. She wants her students to be able to see that there are a million different ways to do something, so as long as you arrive at the same endpoint it doesn’t matter how you got there, you made it to the end. Ms. Halleran says, “I appreciate the different personalities in all my classes and I really appreciate that every student is a different student.” Ms. Halleran decided to teach high school students because, “I feel like it is a crucial age and I think it is much easier considering the way you can teach them…high school is when you’re preparing for college, that is when you’re setting students up for the rest of their lives so that is the most important time to make sure that they have everything they need to succeed in life.”

Ms. Halleran admits that sometimes she struggles to find ways to decompress since her main focus is school. However, she says her weekend job at the Hampton Bays Historical Society where she is the archivist helps her relax. She enjoys going there on the weekends and seeing the history of Hampton Bays and organizing and preserving all of the historical documents. Her love for history is evident as she uses it both in and outside of school, and she can help and inspire her students with all of her knowledge.  Having teachers like this helps make Hampton Bays High School a better place for students.