He bursts through the door and declares to the room “Hello my little race car drivers!” The girls in the back row giggle and the others try to play it cool and keep a straight face. This is how class is started everyday, and it certainly gets everyone’s attention. The teacher of this class is a man of few words when he is not giving a lecture, but when he does happen to speak, his words are quite profound. His name is Jim Haney, and the senior class has elected him as their Impact Teacher.
Haney has been teaching at Albert Lea High School 21 years. He graduated from the University of North Dakota with a BS in Social Studies; from there he graduated from Mankato State with his Masters in History. He grew up in Mandan, North Dakota and now resides in Albert Lea with his wife and two children.
“I love to teach,” Haney said. “Originally I wanted to be a lawyer, but both of my parents are teachers so I guess I just strayed away from law and took the education path.”
Haney teaches Humanities Social Studies and AP Government.
“History and the political sciences are different from other subjects,” Haney said. “It’s a story that you can’t go back and change. In math there might be two to three different ways to get the right answer, and in English there are algorithms and symbols. That’s all marvelous, but History has happened. It is just one story.”
Humor and passion are always included into his lectures. He feels that is the best way to help a student learn. His biggest challenge he has faced in his career is coming up with lessons that students can apply to their own lives, but he has overcome that with much success.
“I’ve always been interested in social studies,” Brooke Thompson, a senior in Haney’s Ap Government class said. “He definitely teaches it in a way that everybody wants to learn.”
Haney enjoys teaching students who are passionate and not afraid to take a chance, but what he looks forward to most is hearing about the success of past students who have graduated high school. Besides teaching, Haney is also the Cross Country and Speech Team coach.
“I get to see students in a different way,” Haney stated when asked what he likes most about being a coach.
However, when asked about past recognition in school, he humbly left out that he earned the District 241 Teacher of the Year award in 2004 and was inducted into the Wall of Inspiration in 2010.
“It’s a wonderful honor,” Haney said about being named student impact teacher, “ but I’m only as good as the students I teach.”
Haney has good things to say about the senior class this year and is optimistic about their future.
“They are passionate, driven, and to the end they keep fighting.” Haney said, “That’s a good thing because they haven’t checked out yet. They are really good, solid people who care about things that are important.”
In the future he plans to continue teaching in the classroom where he can impact students the most. Seeing students who get something out of what he has to offer makes it all worth it.