Sarah Hottle
September 29, 2017
Sarah Hottle, the new government and economics teacher. This is her second year teaching.
Sarah Hottle is the new government and economics teacher. She grew up in Britt, Iowa, and graduated from Wartburg College. This is her second year teaching. Last year she taught freshmen and juniors, while this year she only teaches seniors.
“I think that freshmen are more excited about school, and like me more, because they’re looking for that role model so I felt like I made more of a difference at the freshmen level,” she said. “But I also didn’t have seniors last year. I think I can still definitely be a role model and make a difference in the lives of the seniors that I have and since most of them I’m going to have all year long, I think makes it easier to just build relationships.”
Hottle felt it was her calling to be a teacher when she was in college, but went away from it for a couple of years because she didn’t think she’d be interested in it. She didn’t know what she wanted to teach and thought it would be too easy. She then decided to major in psychology and physical therapy. “I would tell myself, ‘I should be a teacher, that’s what I’m good at, that’s where my skills are at,'” she said.
After seeing her father, who was also a teacher, leave a lasting impact on his students, she decided she wanted to leave the same impact on the next generation.
“I know how much of a transformation high school is, especially going from high school to college, because I went through it,” Hottle said. “I feel like I could really help out kids in those situations, I really just wanted to challenge kids and make sure that they could be on their own when they went to college and just teach them life skills.”
The new high school appeals to Hottle, although she finds the size of the school and the classes intimidating. She feels that she has a lot of support as a teacher and can really grow.
“The people I teach with are amazing teachers already, some coming in the second year will really help me grow in my career,” Hottle said.
Hottle’s free time during the week is mostly spent on planning lessons, but on the weekends she likes to spend time with her husband and her two dogs. She also likes running, walking, and biking and in the winter, skiing and snowboarding.