‘It’s an honor to teach our kids’: Lander educator, Wyoming Teacher of the Year addresses state lawmakers

(Cheyenne, WY) – State lawmakers welcomed Lander educator and Wyoming Teacher of the Year Morgan Hahn to the Wyoming Legislature on Tuesday, inviting her to speak on the floor of the Wyoming Senate and the Wyoming House of Representatives before the day’s proceedings got underway.

“This is an immense privilege that I’m so grateful for,” Hahn said during her remarks. “It’s an honor to be here today. It’s an honor to teach our kids, and it’s an honor to represent the profession that I’ve been called to all my life.”

Hahn grew up in Douglas and referred to herself as “a product of the Wyoming educational system.”

She did spend “a few years chasing the dream of college athletics in other states,” but Hahn said that experience gave her enough “insight into other state education systems” to know that she “wanted to stay in Wyoming,” so she returned to the University of Wyoming to complete her bachelor’s degree in social studies education.

She also earned a master’s degree in American history and government with a specialization in teaching the Constitution from Ashland University, according to a press release from the Wyoming Department of Education.

Hahn currently teaches world history, U.S. history, advanced placement psychology, and advanced placement U.S. history at Lander Valley High School, where she says she is grateful to be “part of a story of excellence.”

“We have countless students who are serving honorably in the military, who have entered the workforce with the skills they need to be successful,” she said. “I’ve taught a bunch of kids who are gracing college campuses from Central Wyoming College to Princeton. Indeed, we are successfully preparing every student every day to be successful after graduation.” 

In 2021, Hahn was selected as Wyoming’s James Madison Fellow and attended the James Madison Summer Institute at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she said she “got to be part of many conversations that highlighted the impressive work being done here in Wyoming.”

“The amount of times that I was able to add value through suggestions to much more experienced teachers was staggering, and not because I’m anything that special, (but because) I’m part of a system that is special – and we have the numbers to prove it.”

Wyoming has surpassed or tied national performance in every category on the National Assessment of Educational Progress since 2017, Hahn said, and as one of only eight states where all students take the SAT, “this year we led the pack in first place.”

She added a “brag” about LVHS, which she said “beat even our high state average by 1.4 points” on the SAT this year. 

“My point is, Wyoming education is an effective, innovative public education system that is robustly and successfully preparing kids for the future,” Hahn said. “It’s comprised of passionate expert educators that put students first and balance innovation with what strategies we know work. … We hold fast to a Wyoming work ethic and do what needs to be done from kindergarten to graduation for kids to be successful. (It’s) personal to every one of us.”

As she concluded her remarks, Hahn encouraged state lawmakers to reach out to their local educators to learn more about issues impacting the K-12 system in Wyoming from “the folks in classrooms and schools working with kids every day.”

“We’d love to talk to you,” she said. “Wyoming is leading the nation in education, and I’m so optimistic about the future of us collaborating and ultimately rallying around kids to help them achieve even greater heights.”