New Ojai Valley School ceramics teacher Margaret Haden is doing a great job finding her stride in the OVS community.
Mrs. Haden grew up in Merced playing water polo and swimming, struggling to find anything else to do in such a small agricultural town.
Mrs. Haden’s first job was at a tomato inspection facility detecting foreign matter in batches of tomatoes for health and wellness.
“I found things like dead rats, it’s pretty nasty,” said Mrs.Haden, “ that’s why I don’t eat ketchup.”
Once Mrs.Haden moved out of Merced she started her career in ceramics.
“I got my BFA in ceramics at the University of Wisconsin and I got my MFA at the New York State College of Ceramics.”
Her last job before coming to OVS was teaching ceramics at a creative and performing arts school in Pittsburgh.
When Mrs.Haden was searching for a job, “I got lucky, just a little internet searching, and I stumbled across a job opening at OVS and applied!”
Mrs. Haden lives in the new state of the art apartments located at the OVS upper campus. Mrs. Haden shares the quarters with her two children and her husband
Mrs. Haden is highly renowned by her new students, most complimenting her happy, fun personality, and her dynamic teaching styles, “It’s just a delight having a new teacher with such fresh energy on our campus; it really promotes a fun learning environment,” says first time ceramics aficionado Logan Daily.
Mrs.Haden recently moved into one of the new state of the art apartments at the OVS campus. With her husband and two kids. She hopes to start gardening at OVS, a passion she picked up while living in Pittsburg.
Mrs. Haden looks forward to teaching at OVS and is excited to continue fitting into the OVS community,
“A lot of the teachers have been here for twenty-something years, and I’ve come to realize there’s a reason for that,” said Mrs. Haden.