Zahra Hassan: The Coolest Teacher On Your FYP

Peerless People, an interview series by Peerless Magazine

It’s been five years since Zahra walked into her first classroom in a blue shirt, cargo jeans, and seafoam Jordan fours, greeted by a chorus of kids calling her Ms. Hassan. One collab with Adidas, Everyday People, and a few additions to her closet later (most notably a Basquiat collaboration blazer), everyone keeps asking her when she’s going to quit. Not anytime soon, she says confidently as an empath, lover of children, and ultimate advocate for equal access to education globally. As she’s taught over 500+ kids over the course of her career, her motto has always been to never put yourself in a box: here, she shares how educators have never been "just a teacher," and how style has encouraged her self-discovery.

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Wow, it's been a year and I just remember meeting you and I was like, oh my gosh, your energy is so perfect..How have you been since CultureCon though, actually? Where have you been? 

Thank you. Good. It's been a lot. My new class, you know, it's been an adjustment. And I'm going back to do the same thing again in September so I'm excited, yeah, it’s just been a whirlwind of just non-stop work, honestly. 

Okay so thank goodness it’s summer break: what's the first thing that you did when you wrapped your last class of the year? 

Oh my god—I slept. All I did was sleep. I told everybody, ‘don't talk to me. I’m sleeping’  I was so sleep deprived by the end of June it was crazy. I think because in June you're wrapping everything up. Then I knew that I had to just get my classroom down, and then we didn't have access to it the week after, so it was just like a quick turnaround, report cards, like just all that had to be wrapped up, and then a bunch of parties that you throw for the kids. So yeah, I slept. I literally just rotted in bed. That's it. 

That's so fair. Is there an average sleep count that you get like a week? Do you know? 

June was really horrible, I'm not even going to lie to you. I think it was like five, six hours at one point because your brain is just constantly on as a teacher. It's like you make 10 million decisions, and as much as people say you can leave work at work, it's genuinely not true if you're an empath because you take on the kids’ energy, especially things that are out of kids' control, like situations that are happening. So yeah, I think five to six hours but I need eight to really function.

Oh, my gosh. Okay, well, I'm glad that you got your sleep and I hope you feel at least a little bit caught up now. With the end of year parties, is there a favorite gift that you received from a student this year?

This one's funny because my kids really be watching me: I think I've ordered out from Uber Eats two to three times a week for lunch so this kid gave me a gift card to Uber Eats and I was like oh my you guys really know me. She made this little card and then she was like, ‘I told my parents I put the most money in it for you, Ms. Hassan.’ That was really, really sweet. The kids are always going to get you mugs but this other girl like was persistent on getting me the ‘best teacher of the year award’ mug so it was really cute because she actually like forced her mom to go to the mall to find this specific mug for me.

OMG your kids are so specific and intentional..I might have actually cried because it's also like you're their mentor as well. As a teacher, you kind of take on a bunch of roles that aren't just teaching.

Oh, for sure. The amount of times they called me mom this year was crazy. It was insane.  It was like, literally, all of them just called me mom. At one point, one kid was literally just attached and said 'I want you to be my mom.'

Wow, I don't even know how I would feel about that. 

I know, that's the thing, like I can't do anything about that, so it was like a whirlwind. It was crazy. 

How old are your students and have you always taught this age?

I'm actually a middle school teacher. I was teaching grade eight, so I've done grade eight for like the first two years. I did seven and eight in like the middle of the year and then I did grade six the year before the one that just wrapped. This is my first time going to a new school and going down, so my kids are in grades two and three. They’re between seven to nine years old and that was completely different. It was hard because the school that I worked at was completely different than anything I've ever done before. I've worked at middle to high schools, so this is my first time working in a school that's underfunded, forgotten, or where a lot of kids don't have access to food or just basic necessities. I'm just grateful to just at least be part of their educational journey, to give them a safe space, so that was beautiful. 

Eighth graders are so scary, at least from my experience because they think that they're grown, but it's weird because they need parental advice.

It's the weirdest thing because they do act like grown, but when things pop off, they're like, oh, my God, like what do I do? What do I tell my parents? Whereas my kids now, they need to be babysat all day, every day. It was just completely different because I went from kids that are so independent to all my kids were just crying. I've never seen so many kids cry so going to elementary was completely different. Their emotional regulations were like all over the place. I think that was like the hardest part. Everything was just blown into like these big, big things where I'm just like, it’s not that serious. 

What makes a Ms. Hassan lesson plan? 

Honestly, it depends. The government will throw at you a set curriculum, like certain expectations, but they don't give you specifics on how you're going to do that. So for me, what I like to do, I like to gamify it for the kids. Especially when they're younger, I feel like the retainment of information is harder. I think it's just intentionally weaving your students' identities into the curriculum. I really, really made it a thing where I wanted it to always be about the kids. ...There was one time we had to do like a unit on procedural writing, like recipes. So then I was like, you know what? Let me plan something like let them go home and maybe bake something and create a video of a recipe that they like to do at home, either from their culture or just something that they enjoy to do with their parents, and the kids had a ball sharing like their cultural foods with us and the kids trying it for the first time. So I thought that was a unique experience. For me, I like to let my plans reflect the students in front of me.

And that makes sense. At the core of teaching, you really just really have to love kids, especially because there are going to be times you don't like those kids, but you have to love them. What's a question that you wish you were asked about teaching more often that you'd like to answer? I know there are shows like Abbott Elementary that people love to watch. Do you feel like they're accurate? 

My principal and our colleagues who watch Abbott Elementary are like, yo, we are the real life Abbott Elementary, but not like Principal Ava. Our principal is really on top of her game.

One thing I wish more people would ask is not “how you do it,” but “how can I help?” We all have services that we can use or transfer skills that we can use to give back to communities. Educational cuts are a huge thing. Maybe if you're a doctor, if you have a service or if you have a business, maybe reaching out to the local schools to ask if you can donate something or even if it's your time, maybe you're like, hey, I want to do a career day. I think that's more important is when people reach out to the communities rather than ask like,”oh my God, I could never do that.” Teachers are so done with that question.

Is that the space that you're trying to fill with your podcast? 

Yes. It helps not just educators but also parents to understand that yo, life is hard as an educator, but it just has to be something that you do as a calling more rather than something that you think you can do for money. I spend more money in my classroom on these students than I do myself. It's crazy. And it's not even a bad thing. It's just that I feel in order for them to have the best education, I need to get the proper resources, materials, and things that I want to do. And sadly, that just comes out of teachers' pockets. 

Is there a certain goal or audience you haven't quite reached that you'd love to reach? 

Maybe once I reach people who are white identifying to actually listen to the experiences of black teachers and actually take the time to understand our perspectives. I think that that would be really cool because then more change will happen, right? Because there are more white identifying people in these positions of principal or teachers everywhere. So if they understand more of our lived experiences, then I think that I've reached one of my goals. 

No, that's actually so real too, because I feel like, like you said, white people are usually the ones in these positions of power and we can talk about it amongst ourselves all we want, but we already understand the mission. Like we need people who don't understand the mission or else we’re preaching to the choir. 

Right, we know this. It's crazy. That's why kids that look like us just have this moment because they didn't have to explain parts of their identity to me. So I think it helps students, but if other educators or white educators took the time to really get to know like the students and where they come from genuinely, I think then like real change will happen.

Since you have such a distinct style in the classroom, have you ever noticed, the kids respond to you differently rather than like other teachers? 

100%. I think that's what is a breaking ice barrier for students, especially when I was teaching in middle school because that's where I was doing a lot of my teaching when I first started. And I was just an occasional teacher. So I'd be going to random schools and the first thing was like the kids would just compliment my outfit or say, ‘I don't want to upset the cool teacher.’ If they perceive that you're cool, then they behave. I remember I was teaching this one class, I had like a flock of girls following me telling me, 'Oh my God, I love your pants.' 'I love your jacket.' 'I love what you're wearing.' 'You smell so good.' It was just 10 million compliments every day, and they were literally just following me around. So yeah, I think for me, I just used it to my advantage. Just being me, like that's crazy. Then it worked. 

No, that's so crazy because I like, for some reason in my mind, I would think they treat you as one of them.

100%, especially when they see me, they're like, 'you look so young.' I'm like, I'm not that young, but okay. But yeah, no, because then they know, once they get to know me, one thing that I really like to tell people, is like I'm kind, but I'm fair. Like, you know, it's just black woman thing. Like you can't cross us, you can't be doing things like that. We will clock it so quickly. So I think that's what they always say...that's the one thing they always tell me. I honestly became the safe space for the whole school body at one point where kids I wasn't even teaching would just come into my classroom and just want to talk if they needed help.

That's so cute. Okay. Well, knowing that everyone loves your fits, I'm wondering is how all facets of your identity have inspired the way that you dress and how that might have shifted over time because even when I search through your Instagram, you used to dress pretty differently, like even like a couple years ago. 

100%. Definitely. But I feel like that's the thing with fashion is that it just constantly changes depending on where you are with your growth or where you are with your identity or just what inspires you. And I think my inspiration when I was first coming in was just this young girl who still wanted to be kind of semi-professional but still herself, like flare parts of herself. So I was just like, okay, let me just like slowly just throw on like cargo pants and a t- shirt and call it a day.

And then they were responding to that. Yeah, like a little, just a little bit. And then I was like, okay, let's get to another level. So each year, I think I was getting more comfortable exploring and just showing up like as fully me.

It's like I was going through waves of things that I liked. So I think the third year, like last year, if I look back at things, I was like so heavy into like jerseys, but I was really into matching and jewelry. It was so different compared to me this year where I'm experimenting more with structures and Japanese streetwear and like corsets and just putting pieces together differently. But I think where I am creatively has changed as well. Yeah. So I think it's constantly changing and I think that's the really cool part about fashion.

Oh, for sure. Are you able to pinpoint your sources of inspiration? 

I grew up with a lot of older cousins, so our parents did not like us watching 106 and Park or BET. But when my older cousins came, like that's all that was on TV. I really love late 90s, early 2000s style. Like Allen Iverson just does it, just like kills it. Snoop Dogg also. And then you got Janet Jackson and TLC. So I think a lot of my core of who I am does come from black 90s films and music for sure. And like all of that is coming back now. 

Yeah I'm reading these fashion articles all the time sharing how people want to actually dress themselves in a way that shows their personality again. Like nobody cares about this minimalist and quiet luxury stuff. Get the F out with that.

Like, please. Yeah, I'm definitely not a minimalist. I can tell you that. 

Is there a favorite item in your closet right now that you just like can't stop wearing?

It's just these new jeans that I got. I thrifted them and they're three quarters––it's the one I wore for the Beyonce concert. And what I just like the way that they fit and they structure and it's like two jeans sewed into one. That's my favorite summer piece right now. I could just wear that all the time. I love these constructed or reconstructed things. Like those are so cute. A hundred percent that is my new obsession right now.

Do you have an outfit formula for when you don't know what to wear? Like when you're rushing.

My go-to formula––I think it's just one staple piece. So whether it be a top or a bottom, it would just have to be one. And then everything else would be muted. It just depends on the look and the colors that I'm wearing. And then it would just have to be finished through accessories. I love to wear a bunch of rings and I always throw on a hat. I think right now, especially by the end of the year, where I was so tired to do my hair. I was just like, let me just throw something on my head. So it just works. And the kids loved it. They loved it. That's the outfit formula.

Accessories are always key––you can elevate anything that you wear, honestly, and how you accessorize, or how you do your makeup, or how you tie it in together. You honestly have such like a notable sense of style, is that something that you also want to be known for, like your legacy?

 I guess so. This one teacher said it perfectly....he said 'I just want you to know that like....you are literally a walking protest because people are looking at you and they're like, yo, she doesn't fit what our teachers look like or what teachers are supposed to look like. So you are every day going to work protesting what white people think of what a teacher looks like. And you're rewriting that narrative and breaking barriers for a bunch of new teachers.' And when he said that, I was like, oh my God, like that's deep… I'm just being me, but you never know what fashion can do for you because people kind of say, oh, you're just putting on clothes, but no: you're actually speaking up for people that look like you and saying I'm gonna show up as me, regardless of whatever space I'm in. 

Are there any unexpected opportunities that your style has opened up for you? Have you had a chance to like interact with the capital F Fashion industry at all? 

I don't think I've gotten there yet, but I would love to get there. I think slowly, but surely I will get there. Right now I, I'm grateful for where my students have let me go. They're the ones who really matter. They're the ones who even made me start a TikTok. So I'm just like, yo, y'all just gave me a brand new second career over this. Well, thank you. I found you guys.

Kids are always so inspiring, and kids in comparison to adults, they have such low levels of fear. I asked that question because I know a lot of brands, they'll ask content creators to become the Creative Directors of some aspect of the company and I can easily see that for you. 

I've had people come up to me and ask me to be a stylist, but I've never done that before, and I don't think I have the mental capacity to take on someone else's needs at once. So I don't know, maybe down the line, if I feel more comfortable, but right now, I'm just going to focus on me. I'm honored that people have approached me for that. That's cool. I appreciate that, but I don't know, it's just something about someone else's vision.

Yeah, that's fair. That's a lot of pressure. And at the end of the day, you know you best. Is there like a brand that you want to shout out? Like a brand that you just love what they're doing? 

I've worked with like a couple of Canadian brands that I really like, and one of them was Roots Canada. It's like they have sweats, sweatshirts, zip-ups, and joggers. I did a one-year ambassadorship with them and I always like when they let me just be me with the content and I really enjoyed that. Sometimes I don't like saying yes to companies and then they make me sound so robotic. I hate that. So yeah, Roots was really nice. Adidas too. Adidas has been treating me really really well. I'm grateful to be consistently working with them for two years now. They just let me be me and I can still do the content in my style. I think that that's really dope and the team is just incredible.

Oh, that's so nice to hear because like I know that sometimes a brand will be like 'okay well this is our vision, this is our brand voice and you need to fit into that.' But the whole point is that each creator has their own authentic audience and it's like you have to let them rock.  In addition to those brands, I also remember that last year at CultureCon they invited you then I also could be wrong but didn’t you host an Everyday People?

Yes. Oh my god. Yeah, that was really fun. That was really cool. I did host an Everyday People. 

I saw your picture on a flyer and I was like wait, hello? 

So what had happened was I think me and my friend went the year before like she just wanted to go. Yeah, I was like I'll go with you. So we're having fun and then I think like the camera guy just took a picture of me and said I love your fit...I just want to take a picture and a video. So I said okay, yeah, say less. So he was saying picture or video and I think people were like constantly coming up to me saying oh my god, like I love you. Like at that point my first like 70 people were telling me this. The people were just seeing oh like yo, she must be from here. And I'm like yeah, I'm just a teacher. Like I don't ever lead with who I am. And then they reached out to me and they're like yo, we would love for you to host and I said yeah, of course. Like it's great. It's a great vibe. It was actually really fun hosting.

Are you ever able to talk about bring the advocacy that you want to bring to teaching and the education system like in those spaces? 

Yes because so many teachers go to these places. Like I met so many and I was like whoa, what the hell is going on? They were all off the clock. There was a guy by the end of the one I was hosting telling me 'yo you made me go back to school. Like I'm trying I'm finishing up my teacher degree because of you.' And I was like are you sure? And he's like 'yeah you've inspired me...when you said that we need more black and brown male teachers I thought that was beautiful.' But yeah I think you can find community everywhere. That's the cool part about it right now.

I love that and it would just make me feel so good if someone was always being like oh you helped me go back to education because it's hard to want to actually pursue that. 

Yeah because people don't understand the profession can be intense, like it's so much work like you have a one hundred percent full course load and you have to do a practicum at the same time where you mentor while also working at the same time and whatever else is going on in life. So when I hear people say 'thank you for helping me,' because in the beginning people would ask to get on a phone call with me and I would talk to people across the world on how to apply for like education program and then they would reach out be like 'I got in' and I'd be like that's so amazing; it's like that pay it forward thing.

What else do you like to do on the weekends? What is your idea of enjoyment when you're off the clock?

I just love to have fun; I love dancing, I love music, I just love everything so for me Everyday People wasn't far-fetched because I love music I love to dance I just love being around good people so it was just a good fit and people who know me say 'your energy so great' so yeah life is too short so it's just like you gotta have fun and make the best of it.

Is there anyone you've seen in these spaces that made you do a double take based on what they were wearing? 

This one girl was wearing this really cool durag, like it was so long and it was made out of lace and I was just like wow I need that in my life and it was gold and bright. I think that's what makes it so cool and unique is that everybody there just shows up looking so fly so there's no way you're not gonna go there and not be inspired or do a bunch of double takes because people just show up and being themselves in a very unique way and I thought that was really cool especially in Toronto because you don't really get to see a big fashion scene here so when you see everybody in their unique styles in this space you're like oh my city is pretty nice.

What else are you trying to get into this summer? What is something on your bucket list that you have to complete before the next school year?

For me it's like, life moves so fast. I am trying to be more present this summer where like I'm really trying to water all my friendships or relationships with family, so each week I'm trying to cross off people to connect with, be outside, be more intentional. I've also been going on solo dates once a week just to just be with myself and reset. I think it's so important because when you're a teacher a lot of you gets forgotten because you feel like everything else needs more attention other than yourself so I told myself that I'm going to be watering myself, like I have to pour into myself because if I don't and I come back in September then I'm just already going to be burnt out so that was my goal of mine. I can't believe summer is almost over but I want to be intentional and I want to just share parts of how I got to where I am with people and I think yeah, it's just that simple. I'm getting better at it.