Teacher writing on a chalkboard and "New Faces @ LGSD"

Melinda Hassinger

Kindergarten Teacher, Central Elementary

Melinda grew up in La Grande and graduated from LHS. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from EOU. She and her family live in Cove, where her husband runs a family farm. She has a niece and two nephews who attend Central. 

After she homeschooled her children when they were young, when they returned to public school, Melinda volunteered in their classrooms, which led to a job as a paraeducator. She found she had a passion for working with children and helping them learn to read, so she went back to college to become a teacher. 

This is her first year with her own classroom and her “biggest goal is to serve the students I work with and learn from the other professionals I work with.”

In her free time, Melinda loves to decorate cakes as well as do other baking and cooking.