Let’s get to know Hannah Funsch, an English teacher at Lakeside High School…
Gerilyn: What inspired you or led you to your current career?
Hannah: I think I always wanted to be a teacher. However, I always thought I would teach elementary school, but I remember in college I had to take an elementary school music class. When I had to pay tuition to learn how to play the recorder, I said, “I am not wasting my money on this. I’m going to do something else.” So, I switched to high school English at that point.
Gerilyn: What is your favorite restaurant in Evans, and what do you love there?
Hannah: I’ve actually thought a lot about this question because I don’t eat out in Evans very often. I did love Bird Dog, but they closed. I haven’t been over to try the new place, Bogeys, but Bird Dog had the best fried pickles and whatever sauce they prepared with them. I don’t get fried pickles anywhere else because they’re too greasy and oily. So, it’s too bad they closed.
Gerilyn: How long have you lived or worked in Evans?
Hannah: I’ve been at Lakeside for 15 years.
Gerilyn: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in Evans? Who would you like to see nominated as a Face of Evans, Georgia?
Hannah: I’m going to have to say Mr.Cummings. He was our principal for three years, and he is the best person I’ve ever worked for in my life. He got promoted to superintendent. He’s the assistant superintendent over testing, which is a shame because he’s a phonemanal principal. You won’t hear one person at Lakeside say a bad thing about him. He’s got an amazing leadership style. He’s no-nonsense and doesn’t play favorites. There’s no politics. He can relate to the kids, and he’s just got it all.
Gerilyn: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?
Hannah: I would go to London or the southern coast of England, which is Cornwall. I’ve recently been reading a lot of books that are set in Cornwall, and I want to see the cliffs and all that. I think I was British in another life.
Gerilyn: What is your favorite movie, or what is the first movie you remember seeing in a theatre?
Hannah: This question made me think of when I was thirteen. I spent summers in Omaha with my aunt because my uncle had Parkinson’s, and so I helped her out with the little girls. It was My Best Friend’s Wedding. She was like, “Ummm, Hannah, are you allowed to see this?” I grew up in a very conservative family, but I was like, “Sure!” She asked, “Should I call your dad?” And I said “No, you don’t need to call my dad.” So, she let me go see the movie, and my parents would never have let me see it. I think intuitively she knew my that my dad would not have approved. However, she let me go to see My Best Friend’s Wedding, which was hilarious. I just recently told my dad that story, too.
Gerilyn: What advice would you give to a crowd of people?
Hannah: My big thing with my students is to be kind. I call them my kids, and there are crowds of kids everyday. There are 150 of them. I know it sounds like a total cliche, but I talk with my kids at least once a week about being kind. On my board it’s the Aristotle phrase, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Just because what someone else is going through is not what you’re going through, it doesn’t diminish that they’re going through something. I talk with my kids a lot about that. Being kind is even picking up trash when you see it because someone is going to have to pick up that trash, and you shouldn’t be a person that thinks you can leave the trash. We talk a lot about that.
Gerilyn: What is something on your bucket list?
Hannah: I want to own a 4Runner, and I want it to be brand-new. I’ve always wanted a 4Runner, and I’ve never been in a place where I could afford one. It’s probably God’s providence that my house didn’t sell last year because when I needed a new car, I went with something practical that I could easily afford. If I had sold the house, I might have gone with the 4Runner. When I get the 4Runner, I will have arrived.
Gerilyn: What is your favorite music or three bands you would like to see, whether dead or alive?
Hannah: Favorite music? I’m not a huge music person. That separates me from a lot of people. I like to drive in silence. I like to sit in silence. There’s something to be said for silence. It’s golden. So, I took Silas to see Imagine Dragons last year, and they put on an incredible show. They really did. They were clean and high energy, and I liked them. I would also love to see Journey and Garth Brooks.
Gerilyn: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Evans?
Hannah: I don’t have an answer for this one at all.
Gerilyn: If you could choose anyone alive and a non-relative, with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? Where in Evans would you go?
Hannah: I always thought I would get along great with Matthew McConaughey. I feel like he would find me funny. I mean, he just seems personable. Where would we go? We’d probably go to Mellow Mushroom. It’s chill and laid-back.
Gerilyn: Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
Hannah: In five or ten years, I’m pretty sure I will still be at Lakeside. I will still be living next door to my parents, but that wasn’t always the plan. They’re both in good health on paper, but they’re both having weird spells. I think it would cause both of them some stress if I moved out. And the relationship they have with Silas… I think one of our responsibilities as parents is to put our kids’ needs first. That’s not something you see in 2019. You see a lot of selfish parenting. No, I don’t love living there, but I don’t live there for me. Silas is surrounded by his friends. He can go over to Mamaw and Papa’s whenever he wants. We’ve got a community there, and they’re all good people. So, I don’t worry about him being out in the neighborhood and riding his bike. I know what I’m getting into over there. Initially, I was only going to live there for five years, but my siblings aren’t in a position where they can take care of my parents. So, I joke with my parents all the time that I’ll be running the old folks’ home. I’ve gone through this revelation in the last four years that other people are more important than me and what I want. What I want has not worked out in life, and that’s perfectly fine because they need me. Silas needs me. My parents need me. So, right now I think my purpose is to take care of them.
Gerilyn: Even for friends or family, what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
Hannah: I think most people know that I like to bake. However, I don’t think people know that if I could give up everything and not have to worry about bills, I would chuck teaching in a minute to own a bakery. I’m really good at it. I like to make things pretty. I like to make things taste good. People thinks it’s a hobby, but it’s my passion. Because I started teaching at 22, I can retire at 52, and that’s plenty of time. People foolishly say, “Go for it. What do you have to lose?” I just don’t think people understand how difficult it is to be a single parent.
Gerilyn: What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word “home?”
Hannah: “Silas.” “Yellow” because I love yellow, and it’s bright and cheerful. I always have yellow in every house I’m in. “Stability” because I’m proud that I’ve always been able to provide a home for Silas. It hasn’t always been cream-of-the-crop or fancy, but he’s never known the stress of me paying bills. He’s never had to worry about where he’s going to sleep, and he’s always had a home.
