By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Tyler Haas tries to teach his students persistence.

Haas was a high jumper when he was in college at Fort Hays State University. During his sophomore year, he was facing some challenges and considering quitting the team. His father encouraged him to keep working.

Not only did Haas find success in his college career, being named twice all-conference, but today he is an assistant coach for jumping events at FHSU. He has worked with several nationally and internationally ranked athletes.

He said had he quit he would have missed that opportunity. He would have missed the opportunity to travel and meet people — and he would have missed an opportunity to do a job he now loves.

“What the key to happiness is may be not always be chasing a dream of making money,” he said. “It is maybe chasing something in which you can impact the most people. In 12 years, I have been able to work with numerous students and athletes, and it has been a great experience.”

Haas, a Hoxie native, has been teaching at Holy Family for 12 years. He currently teaches math and social studies to fifth and sixth graders.

“I say I’m going to go teach. I’m going to go coach. I never say I’m going to work, because I enjoy both of them so much,” he said.

Haas was named March’s Hays Post Teacher of the Month. He was nominated by parent Shanna Koster.

Koster said in her nomination that Haas is her daughter’s favorite teacher.

“She says that he is not only a math and social studies teacher, he teaches about life. He goes above and beyond by teaching our children the right thing to do in certain situations and normal daily life.

“He is genuinely in love with his job as a teacher. He makes an effort to get to know his students and makes learning fun for them.”

Koster said Haas encouraged her to praise her daughter for her hard work in class and expressed a true passion for his work.

“I do believe that teachers have the hardest job in the world,” she said. “I believe that Mr. Haas has left a mark on my child’s life forever. As she leaves elementary school to move to junior high, I believe he has taught her things she will remember for a lifetime. For that, I will never be able to thank him enough.”

Haas started out at FHSU as a radiology major, but going into to his junior year, he switched his major to teaching.

His mother was a teacher. She died of cancer between Haas’ fifth- and sixth-grade year in school.

“I always remembered how caring she was, and she always seemed to be happy to help other people,” he said. “I wanted to do something that genuinely made me happy. It was weird, because I didn’t see myself as a teacher, but it just kind of found me and so did coaching. I didn’t think I would do either one, but it is weird how you get shoved in the direction you should probably go in.”

The small Hoxie community rallied around Haas’ family after his mother died. He said, to a great extent, he was raised by his teachers and the community.

“That’s probably another reason I became a teacher is those people that affected me so much,” he said. “When your world is kind of upside down, you are going somewhere safe every day. People show that they care about you as a person. Teachers were pretty special for me. I cant imagine as a radiologist I would be able to pay those people back. I want to thank them somehow.”

One of his high school teachers, history teacher Olive Krannawitter, particularly stood out in his mind.

“He taught us a lot of life lessons. He taught us what happens if you need to change a tire.  Things like that are still valuable to be today. Budgeting … and this was a history class, but he cared about where we would be in our 30s and down the road. The biggest thing was that we knew Mr. Krannawitter cared about us.  I would say he was the greatest teacher I ever had.”

Haas said he tries to find those teachable moments in his own class.

He said challenging a student, who may be struggling, to work through a problem is maybe more important than the answer they come up with in the end.

“Letting them know it is OK to struggle and teaching them to persevere through that [is important], because down the road in 15 years, that is the most important lesson we teach them,” he said. “They might not remember how to get the area of a kite, but if they could persevere through that problem and find a solution, even if it is not there in the first three to five minutes of work, that is probably the more lasting lesson and is more important down the road.”

Because Haas works with college students as a coach, he sees the struggles young adults go through.

“Especially in their freshman year in college, a lot of them are essentially lost because they have never had to do things on their own. I see where they end up down the road,” he said. “Everybody is afraid of failure, but it is not a final outcome, and we all have to understand it is a part of the process of growing.”

Haas said he is always growing as a teacher and a person, but he said he can’t imagine doing anything else.

“Everyday I go home, and I am pretty happy at the end of the day,” he said. “You get one life, and you should really enjoy what you choose to do. That’s how you get fulfillment. I am just happy to do what I do.”