Jennifer Haugen: Three Decades of Dedication to Students 

This post is part of the Lynden Schools Staff Spotlight series

For three decades Jennifer Haugen has dedicated herself to some of the youngest students within the Lynden community. And she couldn’t be any happier with the age group, serving them as a teacher at two different Lynden schools since 1993. 

The Role

Currently a second-grade teacher at Fisher, Haugen has also taught fourth grade and third grade and has been at both Isom and Fisher elementaries over the years. Where’s she’s teaching now, though, stands as her favorite. “I absolutely love spending my days with this age group,” she says. “We practice what it means to be an independent thinker and speak up for ourselves to get our needs met. We learn about what it means to be a friend and have a friend.” 

Haugen says her students tell the best stories and love to learn new things, even as they navigate losing teeth, learning to tie shoes and scraped knees at recess. She knows that her time with the students is just a short nine-month window, but that can still offer a lot of chance for growth. 

“Sometimes they come to me as shy little 7-year-olds and before you know it, they have grown three inches, built confidence and are off to being big third graders,” Haugen says. “Second graders are the best.”

While she enjoys the day-to-day interactions with the young students at Fisher, she also finds it rewarding to see “my” students as grownups and productive members of society. “I have had the amazing opportunity of teaching students of parents I previously had in my class,” she says. “It’s pretty special to take care of a former student’s child and maybe share a funny story or two about their mom or dad.” 

Getting to Know Jen

Born and raised in Whatcom County, Haugen and her husband raised two daughters here too. The family loves boating in the San Juan Islands, traversing the area’s many hiking trails, and Haugen and her husband have recently taken up playing pickleball. 

“I love this community,” she says, “and look forward to seeing my grandson wear green and gold one day.”