English teacher Corey Haynes is a new to West Potomac, but it isn’t her first time teaching. Haynes has taught at a number of schools, including ones outside of the U.S. She volunteered at the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, where she also raised money for childhood cancer research.

Haynes had always wanted to be a teacher. At first, she wanted to be an art teacher, but after reading Macbeth with her English teacher during her senior year of high school, she changed her mind

“I just loved the way he taught it,” Haynes said. “It made me want to become an English teacher.”

It is Haynes’s fifth year teaching, but West Potomac has been her favorite so far.

“I really like West Potomac, and I’m not just saying that.” Haynes said. “The teachers, faculty, and students are really nice.”

Haynes biggest and proudest accomplishment was making it through two years at the Peace Corps in Nicaragua.

“It was a challenge at first because I didn’t speak the language, and no one speaks English,” she said.

Teaching in Nicaragua meant coming out of classes wet because of the heat, and teaching a class of fifty students, struggling to move through desks.

“It was something totally different,” Haynes said. “I hated the teaching part.”

Even though it was a different country, Haynes thinks all high school students are pretty similar. She still prefers her West Potomac students, though.

“I like the students here,” Haynes said. “It’s a pretty diverse community where kids are more responsible and involved.”

The 10-year anniversary of her father’s death from cancer occurred during Haynes’s stay in Nicaragua. After raising over $5,000 dollars for cancer research, Haynes shaved her head with a few of her close friends who volunteered to join her.

“I wanted to show people that you don’t have to have long hair to be beautiful, and it’s nothing to be scared of,” she said.

During her free time, Haynes enjoys watching Criminal Minds and playing volleyball, a sport she has been competing in since eighth grade and throughout her college years at Maryland Eastern Shore University.

“I made most of my best friends during that time and we went to the NCAA tournament for our last two years,” she said.

As an english teacher, Haynes wants to make her students better people, who are responsible, empathetic and compassionate. She wants her students to know she loves teaching them and to be strong.

“Work hard and never give up.”