Not everyone can walk into school excited for a fun and new class each day, but stepping into 2024 Impact Teacher Jim Haney’s classroom is like a whole new experience each and every day. His stories are animated and hilarious.

“Mr. Haney always goes above and beyond in his class to make sure everyone is entertained and he is definitely a role model for other staff members to look up to,” said Emma Prihoda.

Both of his parents were teachers, so he was always told by his father, “if you’re going into education, you better make it entertaining.” And according to Haney, “That’s what I try to do every day.” 

Connecting with students is one of the most important parts to Haney. Many of his current, and past, students have been given a nickname. It’s a simple way that Haney makes connections with each student, and makes class just a little more entertaining. 

Senior Tayla Hendrickson said, “I voted for him because he makes class fun and worth going to. He’s also great at what he does and I actually feel like I’m learning something while in his class.”

“The way he teaches class,” said Paige Everett. “He makes history fun when usually it’s a boring topic and he just really gets us all to kind of listen to him.”