Gina Mageean recently joined the Hughson High School staff as one of the special education day class teachers. 

The Turlock native furthered her education at Fresno State, National University, and the Stanislaus County Office of Education before teaching for four years at Hughson Elementary. When making the choice to work at Hughson High, she considered the challenge it presented but also felt that parenting two teenagers had helped prepare her for the task. Although she knows she has a lot to learn, she feels that the beginning of the school year has been very welcoming. 

By the time she was in the ninth grade, Mrs. Mageaan knew that she wanted to become a teacher, and accredits much of her early interest to a former teacher. In the sixth grade, Mrs. Mageaan’s English teacher introduced her and her classmates to novels and literary analysis, which she enjoyed immensely. 

The person who most deeply influenced Mrs. Mageean, though, is her mother, whose love and compassion inspired her.

As a teacher, Mrs. Mageean values helping, getting to know, and learning from her students. She loves her work and can’t imagine having a different career. However, if she were forced to pick another, she would be a speech pathologist, because she has always found it fascinating and it is still a part of special education. She has a clear passion for teaching children, and in her own words, she does it because “I think we all need help every once in a while.”