Feb. 9—FORT GIBSON — Intermediate Elementary School teacher Amy Hasler recalls when she tried not to be a teacher.

“But all roads led back to it,” she said. “I was at the top of my class, and I was pressured that I should want to be a doctor or an an attorney or something more lucrative. But it was my passion and I really wanted to follow my passion.”

Such passion led Hasler to teach at Fort Gibson pre-kindergarten and Fort Gibson High before her current position teaching fifth-grade math.

As Fort Gibson’s 2024 District Teacher of the Year, Hasler is up for consideration to be Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. The state announcement is scheduled for June.

IES Principal Andrea Sifers said Hasler is an exemplary teacher.

“She meets her students where they are, yet still has high expectations for them,” Sifers said. “She expects them to succeed, expects them to have good manners, expects them to do the right thing, but she’s going to help them along the way. Her expectations aren’t blind, she knows it has to come with learning and with support. But she is a solid person for our kids and works well with kids that need a lot of work.”

Four of Hasler’s students — Danica Wormington, Madilyn Keane, Kate Saunders and Addison Dry — issued a tribute.

“Mrs. Hasler always has a smile on her face and brings joy to everyone,” the tribute said. “We all love Mrs. Hasler very much.”

Such respect is important, Hasler said.

“They have to like you to learn,” she said. “If they don’t like you, they don’t care what you teach. You have to have a relationship with them, loving on your kids, they’ll learn anything you want. They’ll work harder for you when you build that relationship.”

A 2004 graduate of Hilldale High, Hasler earned her bachelor’s degree from Northeastern State University in 2008 and a master’s degree in curriculum from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 2021.

She worked with curriculum at Indian Capital Technology Center for three years before coming to Fort Gibson seven years ago.

“At Fort Gibson, I came into our three year old program, teaching Tiny Tigers,” she said. “Then I transitioned to high school and taught family and consumer sciences. But this is where I wanted to be. I really wanted to teach fifth- or sixth-grade math.”

She said middle-school-age students get a bad rap.

“People are afraid of them, but I think they’re old enough the want to be independent, but they’re young enough they still want to be silly and have fun,” she said. “You can’t take them too seriously they want to have fun. They’re pretty independent.”

Hasler said she felt called to be a teacher.

“I remember teaching my Barbie dolls,” she said. “I had awesome teachers growing up.”