Ms. Julie Hajnal, a new social studies teacher who loves her two cats and baking blueberry bread, teaches launching success and child psychology this year. Coming to EHHS from Guilford and graduating from Sacred Heart University, Ms. Hajnal became a teacher after being influenced by her high school teacher. After struggling with advocating for herself, Ms. Hajnal had a math teacher that worked with her and gave her opportunities to become successful. She became inspired by this encouragement and wanted to be a supportive figure for her own students.
In high school, Ms. Hajnal actually hated history. She thought it was boring and preferred science much more. However, once she reached college she found qualities in history courses that made her passionate about it. She says, “I liked the fact that history is very fact-based but to a point where you can bring in your own interpretations, which I really like, that you can take something concrete and make it up to your own interpretations.” Ms. Hajnal’s two favorite social studies courses to teach are child psychology and launching success for 9th-grade students. She was an intern at EHHS last year and worked with freshmen at that time as well. Now, as a teacher, she finds the course beneficial and exciting to see students grow and find their way throughout the year. For child psychology, Ms. Hajnal enjoys that her classes are hands-on and always engaged in the learning process.
During the school year, Ms. Hajnal says she loves and appreciates the school community. One thing she loves about teaching at EHHS is connecting and forming bonds with her students. She loves the atmosphere at EHHS as well.“It’s like a small enough school where you know everybody, and I like how supportive the administration is, of like the staff members and how well they work with all of us.” Within the school community, Ms. Hajnal also hopes to become an advisor for certain clubs once she becomes more comfortable.
Outside of school, Ms. Hajnal loves to read, especially non-fiction and history books. She also enjoys being outside, spending time with her two ten year old black cats, Toby and Jasper, as well as cooking and baking. In the future, Ms. Hajnal hopes to still be a teacher at EHHS and do what best aligns with her own values.
