Photo courtesy of Colleen Magee.
Hastings High School welcomes Colleen Magee to the Special Education department starting this 2025-2026 school year after multiple Special Education teachers retired.
Magee went to the University of Montana for her Elementary Education degree. While married and having a baby, she pursued her masters degree in Special Education and Curriculum.
“I was pretty glad to be done and excited to start teaching,” Magee said.
Before Magee became a teacher of 14 years, she was a student teacher for a second grade class. She went on to teach in a middle school in Stevensville, Montana and high school in Corvallis, Montana. She was also a paraeducator in special education and later a special education teacher at the middle school following the retirement of a Special Education teacher.
“I was really excited, but I was also very nervous [to be a Special Education teacher],” Magee said.
Magee wanted to be a teacher because of her aunt, who was a teacher that had taken Magee to her classroom during the summer to decorate for the upcoming school year.
“I felt very important to be there with all the teachers and staff,” Magee said.
When teaching, Magee believes that having a real relationship with students is important in being able to help them.
“In my opinion, that’s how I can help them. The best is to be somebody that they can come and talk to or get help from, and that they feel like I care,” Magee said.
After school, Magee likes going on a walk with her dogs or engaging in a book to calm her mind and get rid of the day’s stress. She goes to Montana in her free time to visit friends and family as well.
“It was really hard to leave Montana, and I miss everybody there. I just miss all the outdoor activities and the weather,” Magee said.
