Cara Hackenmiller

Empathy is Missing, But We Can Change That

Cara grew up in Western Washington and knew from a very young age she wanted to be a teacher. After graduating from the University of Washington with a BA in English, Cara continued on to receive her Washington State Teaching Certificate, her National Board Certification and Masters in Teaching. She started her teaching career in Sultan, WA, moved to Wenatchee, continued her teaching adventure in Cashmere and spent some time in educational consulting. Five years ago, Cara co-founded Joyful Scholars Montessori School, knowing there was a need for a high-quality, non-faith based Montessori school in the Wenatchee Valley. JSM currently serves students 3-15 at two campuses: Wenatchee and Cashmere, where Cara sits as school director. Most recently, Cara has recently developed her own parenting curriculum entitled Parenting With Empathy, providing classes and consulting services in the state of Washington.

Cara believes the key to improving our city, state, nation falls, unfairly, on the shoulders of our youth. The question remains as to whether we are preparing them for this responsibility through traditional educational means. However, there is hope! Cara is confident implementing explicit empathy training in education at all age levels is the key to create lasting, positive change at the local and national level.