Cat Haas

B.A. International Studies, Spanish minor; University of North Carolina Asheville

Cat grew up in the mountains of North Carolina getting to call the sunny Blue Ridge mountains and their endless amounts of waterfalls home. It was during these years in the Appalachians that she was able to nurture her passion for all things outdoors, most specifically rock-climbing and backpacking amongst wildflower-rich peaks. Despite cherishing her time spent at home, growing up Cat spent most of her summers exploring South America and developing an appreciation for foreign places and an expanded comfort zone. While attending the University of North Carolina Asheville, she delved further into her passion for Latin America and choose to center her studies in Latin American History and Mayan studies.

After graduating from UNCA, Cat spent a year serving with AmeriCorps as an academic enrichment specialist with elementary schools in Western North Carolina. Her time with AmeriCorps spurred a love of teaching, which inspired her to embark on a year of teaching Kindergarten in a small Mayan community in the Guatemalan highlands, a place she had focused her research in her senior capstone thesis. After returning home to the United States, Cat decided to move to the Rockies and continue developing her passion for experiential education and the outdoors by working as a Wilderness Instructor and the History and Spanish teaching apprentice at the High Mountain Institute in Leadville, CO.

Cat is ecstatic to be working with the Dragons community and to have the opportunity to introduce students to the beautiful places of Latin America, and hopefully help them fall in love with a home away from home like she did.

When not teaching, you can most likely find her dreaming up a climbing adventure, desperately attempting crossword puzzles, or tucked away reading with a cup of hot coffee.