This year at Okawville Grade School and Okawville High School we have had many teaching openings. One of them was taken by Mrs.Tara Harre in fourth grade. Mrs. Harre previously taught sixth grade at Okawville Grade School for six years before she made the move to fourth grade. I asked Mrs. Harre why she decided to move to fourth grade and she said, “I was ready for a change.” 

Mrs. Harre grew up in Freeburg, Illinois where she went to high school. After high school, she decided to further her education and decided to go to SIUE for her Bachelor’s Degree. Then, continued her education and went to Greenville College for her Master’s in Teaching. After college, her first teaching job was here at Okawville Grade school where she taught kindergarten for two years and proceeded to teach third grade for one year. 

 She took a break from full-time teaching at Okawville when she and her family moved away to Hong Kong for her husband’s job. In Hong Kong, she volunteered at schools and taught Bible School at the Church of All Nations while she was away. When they came back she decided to begin teaching full-time again and started teaching sixth grade at Okawville. 

After six years in that position, she wanted to try something new and made the switch. Mrs. Harre says she is very excited to begin fourth grade and has already had so much fun. I asked Mrs. Harre if she was ready to start something new, and she expressed, “I love having something to look forward to, and teaching fourth grade has given me that. I am glad to say that we have a lot of great new teachers and a great year ahead of us.”