Congratulations to Dilynn Hare on being selected as Comanche Public Schools District Teacher of the Year. She is married to Keith Hare and they have 3 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, and 3 grandchildren who fill them with pride. This is her 16th year of teaching, and she cannot think of a better career choice.
Dilynn Hare states, "I am thankful for the opportunities God has given me, and I am certain that my life would be different without Him."
As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a teacher. I grew up in Comanche and graduated from Comanche High School in 1991. I went on to WOSC to play basketball and get a teaching degree. Two years later, I married my sweetheart and helped him raise our extraordinary children.
In 2000, I took a paraprofessional position at Comanche High School and for three years I worked with amazing teachers and students. It was during this time that I decided that I needed to finish my education and enrolled in Cameron University, fully expecting to return to Comanche to begin my career.
During my time at Cameron, my mom was also pursuing her education degree. We were able to take several classes together. This was my favorite part of college, collaborating and studying with my mom. We even graduated at the same time. Her decision to go back to school was an inspiration to me and one of the reasons I made the decision to return to school.
I graduated from Cameron in December of 2006. It was the middle of the school year so I was not expecting to find a position, but I knew my life was in God’s hands. I received a call from a friend that a teacher from their school had suddenly passed away and they were needing someone to finish the year with her students. My teaching career began at Plato Elementary in the middle of the school year under difficult circumstances. That semester we not only worked on education but on coping with grief.
For the next 13 years, I worked for Duncan Public Schools at Plato Elementary. I spent the first 8 years teaching 3rd grade. One of those years was challenging with a split classroom of 3rd and 4th graders. For the last 5 years, I looped with my students from 2nd to 3rd grade. I also spent 4 summers teaching summer school with 3rd graders. In 2018-2019, I participated in the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program. As part of the grant, I received professional development from the K20 center, and I developed and published a lesson for their website. As a result, I worked that summer teaching summer school for gifted students.
During my time at Plato, I received several awards.
2018-2019-Masonic Teacher of Today
2011-2012-Plato Teacher of the Year
2010-2011-Masonic Teacher of Today
2010-2011-Plato Teacher of the Year
2009-2010-Masonic Teacher of Today
In the summer of 2019, I received a call from Mr. Davidson. There was a 2nd-grade position open at Comanche. It came out of nowhere, I was not looking to leave my current position, but as soon as he spoke those words to me, I knew Comanche was where I needed to be. My grandson was starting school, this is my hometown, and this is where I began my education. It was time to come home! I have spent the last four years and the last two summers teaching 2nd graders at our amazing school, Comanche Elementary.
In 2020, after watching our outstanding wrestling team win 2 State Championships, I was talking with my husband and Coach Rowell about the girl’s exhibition matches at the state tournament. We all agreed that it would be amazing if we could start a girls' wrestling program at Comanche. We already had girls wrestling with the boys, this would be a better opportunity for them. That is how I found myself as an assistant wrestling coach. I am amazed at the talent these girls have and each year they outperform the accomplishments of the year before. I cannot wait to see how great they will be and am thankful to be a part of the program.
My philosophy of education is simply to create an environment where students feel safe and loved, then I will be able to educate them. I may not be able to tell them about Jesus, but I can show them the love of Jesus. That is my ultimate calling."
