Student leader focused on home, teaching

Thanks in part to the example set by her teachers in the Pullman School District, Hannah Talbot said she plans to remain in the area after high school and hopefully begin a teaching career in her hometown.

Talbot, who graduates from Pullman High School today, said she plans to attend Washington State University in the fall to study elementary education, with an aim of student teaching in Pullman.

Talbot said she has wanted to be a teacher since she was in elementary school. She said she has always looked up to her teachers and is looking forward to finding ways to make learning fun for a new generation of students.

“I would really like to teach third or fourth grade,” she said. “I just feel like it’s a good age where kids are finally understanding things but they’re not at that point where they act like they know everything.”

In school, Talbot has taken on leadership roles in cheerleading, track and field, her local chapter of the National FFA Organization and in student government. In her senior year, Talbot was executive president of PHS’s student body government, overseeing the body and leading other class presidents. She said one of her teachers, Erin Willy, was a major force behind her taking on such responsibilities.

“She basically was just like, ‘You’re gonna be president by your senior year’ and pushed me to make difficult decisions in high school, which led to a great experience,” Talbot said.

For her part, Willy said Talbot was well suited to the leadership roles she took on — or was encouraged to undertake.

“She’s one of those people that is such a leader that everyone just gravitates to her and she’s going to give directions and she knows exactly what she’s doing all the time — I don’t know how she does it,” Willy said. “Even as a freshman, the upperclassmen would turn to her for leadership — she just carries herself in that way and she always has.”

According to Talbot’s friends, it is little wonder she is able to command peoples’ attention. Classmate Ian Snell, who has known Talbot for at least six years, said she’s a funny, likable presence that lights up the room.

“She’s just insanely friendly to everybody and she’s always a great person to talk to, whether you know her or not,” he said. “She’s very involved in school, so she’s a good person to talk to if you have questions with anything to do with school.”

Talbot said she may go to Hawaii over the summer but otherwise she’s looking forward to working her first job at WSU’s Crimson and Gray shop. Born and raised in Pullman, she said she has always appreciated living in a small town that has a big town feeling to it.

“You get to experience both campus things and town things and I think our town does a good job of incorporating both, she said. “You go to Cougar football games, and it feels like such a big town but then I go to high school and it’s not that big of a school.”

Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com.

CLASS OF 2021 HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCEMENTS

A look at high school commencement ceremonies scheduled for Saturday on the Palouse.

Pullman Christian School

Where: Living Faith Fellowship sanctuary - 1035 S Grand Ave, Pullman

When: 7 p.m., Saturday

Graduates: 6

Notes: Masks required; no guest limit

Pullman High School

Where: Hobbs Field, Pullman High School

When: 5 p.m., Saturday

Graduates: 185

Notes: Masks, social distancing required; four guests per graduate

Potlatch High School

Where: Potlatch Jr. - Sr. High School Gymnasium

When: 10 a.m., Saturday

Graduates: 25

Notes: Masks, social distancing encouraged; no guest limit

Colfax High School

Where: Colfax Football Stadium

When: 11 a.m., Saturday

Graduates: 45

Notes: Masks, social distancing required; 10 guests per graduate

Gar-Pal High School

Where: Garfield-Palouse High Gymnasium

When: 11 a.m., Saturday

Graduates: 22

Notes: Masks, social distancing required; 10 guests per graduate

Colton High School

Where: Colton High School Gymnasium

When: 11 a.m., Saturday

Graduates: 11

Notes: Masks, social distancing required; 15 per graduate