Why Prep

Helen Haskell: Bringing Geoscience to Life

No one could ever accuse Prep teacher Helen Haskell of complacency. Even after more than two decades in the classroom, the veteran geoscience instructor remains downright giddy about her subject -- and loves nothing more than sharing that excitement with her students.

“Teaching geoscience is really learning about where we live and other amazing places,” Haskell says. “It’s the best when students send me photos from their vacations showing a geologic concept we studied or bring in a rock they want to identify.”

For Haskell, curiosity about the natural world is more than a teaching tool -- it’s a life philosophy. “I want students to interpret their landscape, put their devices down, and get outside,” she explains. “It’s necessary if we’re going to have a healthier planet and population.”

Her classes bring that philosophy to life. Each fall, Haskell’s ninth graders explore the volcanoes at Petroglyph National Monument to see firsthand how geology shapes their city. In the spring, they trek through the Ojito Wilderness, using sedimentary rocks and structures to piece together stories of the ancient past. Her Geoscience 2 students conduct field labs along the Rio Grande and other local sites, applying classroom concepts in the real world.

“I feel lucky to have the job I have -- to work, laugh, and learn alongside young people, and to have New Mexico as my classroom,” she says. “We live in the best state to see and experience amazing geology!”

Haskell’s passion extends well beyond campus. As part of Prep’s Outdoor Leadership Program, she’s guided students on adventures from Nicaragua to the Alps and leads annual kayaking trips to Lake Powell.

If she could take her students anywhere in the world, Haskell says, it would be Antarctica -- or perhaps Botswana and Zimbabwe, which she explored last summer.

In her downtime, she “walks the talk” -- hiking arroyos, rock hunting, and exploring New Mexico’s rugged beauty. Her professional development pursuits are equally adventurous: rafting the Grand Canyon, studying the Tetons with National Geographic, visiting schools in the Philippines, tracking bison in Yellowstone, building remotely operated vehicles, and mapping the ocean floor in Alaska with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Before joining Prep, Haskell worked at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and for local nonprofits focused on raptor education and research.

Originally from England, she jokes that she came to New Mexico “for two days and never left.” She and her husband have two grown children.

Curious, adventurous, and deeply connected to the world around her, Helen Haskell lives the very spirit she hopes to inspire. Through geoscience, she invites her students to explore, question, and care for the planet -- one rock, one landscape, one adventure at a time.
 

Favorite Quote
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" from Mary Oliver's poem The Summer Day. You have to read the whole poem but it's the best in the world and epitomizes how I wish more of us could act in the world more of the time.

How do you like to spend your downtime?
Being outside, hiking, exploring, wandering up arroyos, picking up rocks, watching birds...

What do you enjoy most about Sandia Prep?
The students - I learn something new every day and I get to laugh a lot. It's very fun seeing the "lightbulb" go on - both in the science classroom and on Outdoor Leadership Program trips. Often it's the casual conversations I have one on one with students that are the most special -especially hiking along a trail or sitting in a yurt. Also I really like how I can use the outdoors to learn. There is no better classroom.

Year Joined Prep
2004

Total Years Experience
19

BA, MA