I have never met a teacher so determined to ensure their students’ success until I met Mrs. Hastings. She is always willing to help her students, no matter how difficult the assignment is. This is Hastings’ first year teaching at Azle, and she is already doing great.

Every day starts out with a fun, personal attendance question, which makes the classroom environment even more welcoming—especially with her bright, exciting personality and outfits. She is always open to learning more about her students individually. She is always walking around the classroom, checking on her students’ progress on their assignments and making sure they’re doing well emotionally.

During school volleyball season, she would keep herself updated on the dates of every game. She would always make conversation with me to know who we were playing that day. The day after, she would always ask how the game went. Good or bad, she was still supportive. Later in the year, when she found out I was in newspaper, she was in awe. She instantly wanted to know more about it. Since then, she has recommended newspaper to other students in my class and allowed me to tell them more about it.

English sometimes isn’t my strong suit, but Mrs. Hastings really makes the class better. My class has around 10 people in it, so whenever I needed help, Mrs. Hastings was right there. She creates an environment that allows me to feel comfortable enough to ask questions. When she can tell I’m hesitant to ask a question, her saying has always been, “Sometimes you just need a sounding board, and that’s OK.” This makes me want to come to class every day.

If I could describe her in one word, it would be dedicated. The dedication she has shows up every day in the classroom in the way she supports her students, her devotion in her lessons, and consistently putting effort into making sure her students understand the material. This gives me someone to look up to as I am debating on becoming a teacher.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to have Mrs. Hastings as my English teacher this year. Thank you, Mrs. Hastings, for making English better.