The Teacher of the Month for March is Madison Flake. Flake teaches Farm to Fork, Vet Science, and Plant Science in the Hughson High agriculture department. As a first year teacher, Flake has already excelled as an instructor and as a member of the HHS community. 

Becoming a teacher has been an ambition for Flake since her senior year of high school. Now that she is living this dream, her favorite part is “getting to learn the different personalities of my students and teaching them the life skills and hands-on lessons in the agriculture curriculum.” Natalia Fuentes says that Flake does in fact help with this as her favorite part of Flake’s class is her kindness and patience while still making it fun for everyone.

There may be many memories in the making for Flake here at Hughson High, but so far her favorite is going on conference trips with the FFA students. In particular, she enjoyed the National FFA Convention trip of last November to Indianapolis, Indiana. 

As a new teacher, finding a community of support can be challenging, but this has not been for Flake at HHS. Flake said that the HHS Ag Department, including Kelly Larson, Brett Baker, Kristen Maciel, and Mike Ellington have had a strong influence. They each have guided her through the beginning of this teaching journey by mentoring her through the challenges that appear in the profession as a first-year teacher. For this, Flake is very thankful. 

One piece of advice Flake would give to students is to “spread your wings after high school in whatever they pursue.” No matter the path after high school, she encourages students to get involved in the community. As for the community here at Hughson High School, Flake said she feels a strong connection to the community here which has made being a teacher here very special.