Isabelle McCulloch
Staff Writer
December 19th, 2024
To the Indiana Chapter of the AATSP, she is Spanish Teacher Jennifer Hasler Troutman, but to her students at Westfield she is so much more…she is Hache.
Spending 26 years teaching at Westfield High School out of her 28 years total, Hasler Troutman believes that the people are why she has stayed for so long.
After being awarded Indiana’s Teacher of the Year, which she claims was a pleasant surprise, she said, “It means a lot to me. I am fortunate to have an opportunity to highlight our students' successes with languages and cultures at WHS.”
Hasler Troutman strongly believes that language and culture learning helps students excel in all of their studies and the workplace, and that is what sets her apart from other language teachers. WHS is the third school she has taught at, and she feels she has “finally … found my home when I got to WHS.”
She has been able to capture that by enjoying getting to know whole families through teaching their children.
Originally studying Russian in college, meeting one of her Dad’s professors started Hasler Troutman’s teaching career. She believed he made an enduring influence in her daily life and he is someone she continues to be grateful for where she has gotten.
When speaking about the most rewarding moments as a teacher, Hasler Troutman recalls, “I love it when I get to see students jump in and use their language skills even when they are unsure if it is completely correctly worded.”
This joy gets her coming to school every day. Hasler Troutman’s advice to anyone striving to be a Spanish teacher is, “Be ready to join students by also getting outside of your own comfort zone. Continue learning and trying things that challenge you to grow.”
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