Hanken, Jo

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, with rolling fields, tornadoes, tomatoes and cornfields, a little girl was born. The land known as Iowa, is where this little girl grew up and went to school. Ms. Hanken is that little girl, and I am Ms. Hanken.

I grew up in the great state of Iowa and went to the University of Northern Iowa to learn about Social Work. I graduated from there with a B.S.W., and went to the University of Iowa to continue with my graduate studies.
While in Iowa, I worked with families and children who were having many types of problems. During that time, I taught counseling courses at Kirkwood Community College. When I came to Arizona, I decided to teach children, because I discovered teachers make a huge difference in children's lives. I wanted to be part of that difference.

I have been a Kyrene teacher for many years, spending several years at Kyrene Middle School. I taught 6th grade -- both grade level and advanced math and language arts, and sometimes social studies. For eight years, I taught, mentored and coordinated the KMS Title One program, and was a site and district new teacher mentor. Prior to my arrival at Paloma, I was the Assistant Principal/Student Advisor at Kyrene del Sureńo and Kyrene de los Lagos.

My husband and I share our home with two beautiful cats:  Mocha and Murdoch, and a crazy dog, Parker.  We have one son, who lives with his wife (and their two cats, Dexter and Marshall) in Seattle, WA.  We love to travel, paddle boat, read and I love my herb garden – which often includes catnip.