In the basement of Hazelwood West High School, a bare but not unfilled hallway that leads to room 19. Inside, Mrs. Susan Fajatin’s exuberant energy fills the space, creating an atmosphere where everyone feels welcome and encouraged to learn and explore the many circles she teaches.
For her, teaching wasn’t something she fell into. Fajatin knew from a young age what her profession was. It started back in third and fourth grade, when her teachers at McNair Elementary made her believe that working with kids was not only meaningful, but something she could love.
”They were great!” “I just thought it was a good profession, and something I would like to do,” Fajatin said
Fajatin taught all former grades in the Hazelwood district before realizing that Hazelwood West High, her former high school, where she graduated, was still where she felt most at ease-it felt like the perfect full-circle moment.
”How cool would that be” Fajatin said. “To follow my kids to high school and finish my career in the place I grew up?”
Now in her 26th year of teaching, Fajatin’s purpose is shaped less by curriculum and more by having a connection and understanding with her students- her classroom is open, structured, and welcoming, the kind of place where “the silly stuff stays out” because her students know she cares, because of her pure character shown.
Real relationships can change the way students behave and learn.
“People have to know you care,” Fajatin said. “And then they give you a little bit more.”
Find joy in what you do. Being a person in the educational field, never push your students toward one path. Encourage them to choose a future that fits their interests and strengths.
“If you love what you do,” Fajatin said. “You will shine. People will see it.”
Even after 26 years, her impact runs deeper than subject matter. It’s in the way she talks to students, the tone she sets, and the confidence she builds. Hazelwood West might be a big school, but her presence makes it feel smaller, warmer, and easier to navigate.
And that’s the kind of influence that lasts long after the final bell.
