“We are just thrilled to go all day,” said Hake, who is in her 16th year of teaching. “When they presented to us that this might be an option, we were over the moon excited.”
The biggest positive an all-day program offers is the pace, she said.
“In a half-day (program), we felt hurried up, rushed. At a whole day, we will be able to be at a relaxed pace where kids can digest curriculum, they can explore,” she said. “Then, those other things — social skills, arts — won’t get lost.”
A graduate of Piqua High School, Hake holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Miami (Ohio) University and a master’s in teacher leadership from Wright State University.
Her first job was teaching all-day kindergarten for one year in Celina. After moving to Tipp City schools, she taught third grade one year then jumped to “the wonderful world of kindergarten.”
Her parents are teachers with father John Forsthoefel a former assistant superintendent at Piqua schools and now professor at Urbana University and mother Barb Forsthoefel a former kindergarten and third grade teacher.
“We say it’s a family business,” Hake said with a laugh. Her husband, Dan Hake, is principal at Troy’s Concord Elementary School. They have two daughters, Carson, 8, and Colby, 5.
To prepare for this school year, Hake said she was able to make some changes to her classroom because it will go from housing two sessions of students each day from the former morning and afternoon kindergarten sessions to one session.
She said the “neatest” part of preparing for this new venture and school year is the four new kindergarten staff members in the district. One is a recent college graduate, another moving from the local middle school to kindergarten and two others with experience in other districts.
“That has been amazing, to see what they bring to the table, to share the traditions that we’ve done in Tipp,” said Hake, who also is serving as a mentor for one of the new kindergarten teachers.
Although she explored a variety of careers during college, Hake gravitated to education.
“You make a direct impact on the future. Every day is rewarding. Some little person in your room figures out something they didn’t know how to do. There is no other job on the planet where you can say that happens,” Hake said.
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