New to Greenhill last year, Upper School History Teacher and Cavalcade Faculty Sponsor Ayasha Hensen has participated in several areas of the Greenhill community.

Education was not always Hensen’s planned career path. Originally, she had intended to complete her graduate studies.   

“Education and teaching was actually supposed to be a bit of a stopgap between finishing my undergrad and finishing my graduate work,” Hensen said. “I was in grad school, and I got pregnant with my third daughter, so I put a pin in grad school. The plan was to teach for a couple of years until she got to be school-age, and then I was going to go back to school, but I just kind of fell in love with teaching.”   

Hensen says her passion for history and political science, the field of her undergraduate degree, naturally translated into the classroom. What finalized her decision to stay in education was her early experience teaching students from backgrounds similar to her own. 

“Working with students, particularly [at] my first two schools I was working at, grew up really poor,” Hensen said. “They were maybe the first people in their family to go to college. Education changed the trajectory of my life, and just providing that to as many students as possible became really, really important to me.”   

At Greenhill, Hensen says her transition has been smooth thanks to the welcoming nature of the community.   

“The staff, my department, everyone has been extremely supportive,” Hensen said. “The kids here are wonderful. The parents are wonderful. I mean, I truly do not have any complaints.”    

Hensen says one of the most notable factors that attracted her to Greenhill was the variety and depth of the history curriculum.   

“The first thing I did when I found out there was a position available was pull up the course catalog,” Hensen said. “I mean, as someone who genuinely likes this stuff, I would take just about every class that’s offered here.”   

Outside of the history curriculum, she was drawn to Greenhill’s campus environment as well.   

“I live in Lake Highlands where we have peacocks walking around in different spots,” Hensen said. “But having a campus with peacocks and just how nice the campus is, it does feel like a small college campus.”   

Hensen describes her teaching style as open and discussion based, aiming to create a space where students feel encouraged to express their thoughts, even when they challenge mainstream opinions.   

“I want kids to feel like they can express themselves,” Hensen said. “History and political science are subjects where people tend to have strong opinions. If you are passionate about something that you think is maybe not the mainstream opinion, it can feel intimidating to express that, so I try to create an open and welcoming environment.”   

Additionally, Hensen integrates discussions into her AP U.S Government & Politics and Cold War classes and plans to do the same in her upcoming Civil Liberties and Law course next year.   

Beyond the history classroom, Hensen has taken on the role of Cavalcade Faculty Sponsor. Hensen says she enjoys the creative side of the yearbook process and helping students recognize their own design talents.   

“I like making things look nice and just being able to be a part of that is really exciting,” Hensen said. “But in truth, it is 100% the students, the Cavalcadians, who make the yearbook and put it together.”   

One of her favorite aspects of the role is watching students discover new skills.   

“I can not tell you how many times I have had kids in my Cavalcade class say, ‘Oh, I am not that good at design,’ but then I look at their page, and I ask, ‘What are you talking about? Look at how nice this is,’” Hensen said. “Helping kids discover a part of themselves they did not think they had skills in is really rewarding.”   

Hensen says she is thrilled to be at Greenhill and looks forward to continuing to share her passion for history and education.   

“I really am just living my passions by being here,” Hensen said.