Quincy teacher wins Golden Apple

QUINCY (WGEM) - Rooney Elementary School’s Connie Haschemeyer was awarded the WGEM Golden Apple Award for the month of May.

Haschemeyer has taught in the Quincy Public School system her entire nearly 34 year career.

“She’s been working for a bunch of years,” first grade student Parker Alexander said.

“I thought in a couple years I would have everything ready to go and know what I was doing. but that never really happens, Haschemeyer said. “You’re never, every year is different so you always have to keep going and plugging away.”

The one constant is that she has always taught first grade.

“It’s a very important year. It builds a lot of foundation in reading and a lot of the skills, so it’s very important year. You see a lot of growth and see them change,” Haschemeyer said.

Colleagues say Haschemeyer’s genuine love for her students sets her apart.

“Her classroom is like her family. She treats every kid as an individual and celebrates their successes,” Rooney Elementary Academic SAM Jason Fink said.

“She’s kind and she helps a lot and she teaches us in very good ways,” first grader Bryson Logsdon said.

One area where students succeed most is math.

“She loves to teach math, and her students excel at that,” Fink said.

“We learn take away, adding,” first grade student Mia Anderson said.

“The reason why I’m good at math is because of her,” Logsdon said.

As Haschemeyer prepares to retire at the end of the school year, she has advice for those just entering the teaching profession.

“It is a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of your own personal time, but it’s very much worth it. They have a lot of love to give, and they really need your love back,” Haschemeyer said.

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