Iris Báijīng Hubbard

Iris’s love of teaching began in high school. It started with teaching swim and piano lessons and evolved into teaching elementary school. Iris's interests in environmental education led her to a degree in environmental studies with a teaching certificate in elementary education. Outside of the classroom, Iris started the WWU Adoptees club and started an annual showcase called Our Voices that highlights student adoptees during National Adoption Awareness Month (November). She continued her work through her capstone project with fellow Honors student, Saige Wilde, and created an online resource for adoptees, particularly international adoptees. Iris also self-published a children’s book of her experiences as an adoptee called An Adoptee’s Journey, and in 2020 she published her debut YA novel, Switched, which you can find at our local Village Books. Through the Fulbright ETA program, Iris was able to follow her dream of teaching abroad, and in Taiwan furthered her love of teaching curious children, and facilitated a cultural exchange with the US by implementing a pen pal program between her classroom in Taipei and two other classrooms in the US. Through this experience, Iris realized the depth of her interest in education practices globally and improving her own classroom skills.