Aren Hazlett-Norman

Aren is thrilled to be joining the Bennett Day School community as a Middle School Science Teacher and member of the PBL team. They recently moved to Chicago from North Carolina, where they are from. Aren has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Bates College, with minors in Spanish and Gender & Sexuality Studies.

Most recently, Aren spent four years teaching middle schoolers at a small, progressive boarding school in the southern Appalachian mountains. They taught a variety of classes – geometry, Spanish, social studies, language arts, food science, and personal growth – led extended field trips with students, and coordinated the school kitchen. Before their last teaching role, Aren worked as a community organizer, a farmhand, and a wilderness trip leader.

Aren is passionate about hands-on, experiential learning and supporting their students to build critical analysis skills across disciplines. They love exploring questions about the world around us alongside students. The questions Aren most enjoys are the ones that may never have fully satisfying answers, but are fertile ground for ever more creative and interesting questions.

When not in a classroom, Aren loves cooking for people, spending time outside, and making music with friends. They live in Hyde Park with their partner and cat.