From the classroom to U.S. Congress
Jahana Hayes had two dreams while she was growing up with her grandmother in Waterbury’s toughest housing project: to be a teacher and to live in a house with a back yard.
When she got pregnant at 17 – the same age her mother got pregnant with her, and the same age her grandmother got pregnant with her mother — Hayes was forced to delay college, but resolved to follow the detour to her destination.
In 2016, when Hayes was named the National Teacher of the Year for her work in the same public high school where she was a teenage mom, it seemed as though her story had come full circle.
That was certainly the view of the daughter Hayes had in high school, who grew up to become a history teacher, just like her mom.
But it might be that the story is just beginning for Hayes, who never dreamed that she would run for Congress.
“I look at the grace and the blessings that I have had in my life, because I know where I should be,” said Hayes, 45, of Wolcott, who is running in the August primary for the 5th District against Mary Glassman.
“I feel obligated to help improve the outcomes for other people,” Hayes said. “This is where I think I can be the most impactful – to be a voice at the table who understands what people in this state, in this district, in these households are going through.”
The principal of Waterbury’s John F. Kennedy High School, where Hayes taught for 13 years, said the attributes voters want in a Congressional representative are those that good teachers bring to the classroom.
“We are talking about tireless workers who are dedicated to something larger than themselves, who make lives better, and who are not doing it for the money,” said Robert Johnston. “And when you speak about Jahana, she brings an incredible amount of passion and energy to improve the lives of others that is contagious; I have seen it myself, and it is amazing.”
Although Hayes’ 2016 award was Waterbury’s biggest story of the year and her subsequent speaking tour of the United States in 2017 gave her national exposure, not all Democrats in greater Danbury know her story.
She was singled out for getting students to volunteer in community service projects such as Habitat for Humanity, which led to better classroom performance, and for her initiative to recruit more minority teachers.
Hayes is now Waterbury school district’s talent and professional development supervisor.
“Jahana has an uncanny vision of her students and their situations,” said Cassandra Fann-Pierce, a child development teacher at Kennedy High School who coadvised a club with Hayes called HOPE, for Helping Out People Everywhere. “She was able to see possibilities and identify opportunities, but refused to stop there: she had the foresight to turn ideas into actions.”
At stake in the 5th
If the 5th Congressional District seems as though it’s been in the news a lot this year, it’s for good reason. In early April, three-term Democrat Elizabeth Esty shocked the district by announcing she would not seek re-election, just days after Hearst Connecticut Media broke the news that she covered up an office abuse scandal.
The resulting scramble in both parties to field big-name candidates in Connecticut’s most competitive Congressional seat was followed by Hayes’ strong showing at the district Democratic convention in mid-May.
Hayes, who had joined the race only two weeks before the convention, would have won the endorsement if not for an eleventh-hour vote switch by three delegates that gave Glassman the edge.
At that point, Glassman had been raising money for a month and had impressed Democrats with the strength of her organization.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, who had encouraged Hayes to run, assured her after the convention disappointment that she was as qualified as anyone to represent Connecticut in Washington, D.C. It took her just one day to decide to stay in the race and challenge Glassman, a former 8-term first selectman from Simsbury.
In characteristic fashion, Hayes made her decision after drawing on her childhood trials, and her challenges as a working mom, pursuing a degree to make her dream a reality.
“We have to break away from these traditional ideas of the right way to do everything, and deal with people the way they are and let them know whatever their situation, we can help navigate a path through this...” Hayes said during an interview in Danbury last week with The News-Times. “I am in that situation right now where I obviously would have loved to come out of the convention with the endorsement . ... but to have to navigate out of this speaks to resilience and persistence.”
With Republicans waging their own battle for Esty’s seat, voters in greater Danbury can expect to see more headlines about the 5th District as the August primary nears.
Hayes, who was in Danbury last week to attend the city Democratic Party’s annual dinner, has been telling those who question her political experience about the parallels between being a teacher and being a leader.
“The classroom is emblematic of everything that is happening in our society right now,” Hayes told The News-Times. “People talk about education as a singleissue thing, but in my classroom we are dealing with health care and homelessness and gun violence and addiction, because before I can begin to teach young people, we have to get through all those layers.”
Hayes connected with students by sharing her own experiences growing up in poverty and crime, she said.
“I remember as a young girl the coroner removing a dead body from the hallway, and I remember that smell the next day as we were playing in that same space,” Hayes said. “I want people to understand that there are young people who are in that situation right now who are worrying about making it home safely — and hearing gunshots in the middle of the night.”
Dreams and vision
Although it is true that Hayes never dreamed of anything but being a teacher, it is easy to see how running for Congress fits her, supporters said.
As a teenager, Hayes would drag her best friend around Waterbury during election time, rounding up people to vote for Democrats.
“She was always talking about how important elections were and about making your voice heard,” said her best friend from childhood, Ramona Brock. “She always wanted to be a teacher, but maybe this is truly her ultimate purpose.”
Hayes is inclined to agree. Standing before the National Education Association during its 2016 convention, Hayes told educators from around the country, “I am my students,” a reference to her method of connecting to students by sharing her life with them.
Now, in the campaign for Congress, where she shares how her own life formed her vision to make others’ lives better, Hayes could just as easily say, “I am my constituents.”
“I am a consensus-builder and a respecter of people,” Hayes said. “And I have learned that even though we may have different experiences, at the end of the day I know there is good in people.”
That is despite her experience of being National Teacher of the Year during the contentious 2016 election, when she would go to some parts of the country to speak and be warned about what to expect.
“I was forewarned that there was hostility, and people straight out said to me the only reason I was selected was because I was a person of color,” Hayes said. “Then I realized that is no different than the narrative that has played out my whole life. I had to just ignore it and keep moving forward.”
Hayes will campaign in the district’s 41 towns and cities over the next two months, trying to match Glassman’s organization.
Last week, Glassman’s campaign said she had raised $170,000, and planned to raise $340,000 more by the primary.
Hayes had raised $100,000 with the help of Meghan Scanlon, who was helping Esty raise money for her re-election when the incumbent dropped out.
Meanwhile, Hayes’ biggest fans are watching her run with intense interest.
“Everything in life kind of works out the way it is supposed to, even though you don’t know how,” said Hayes' daughter, Clermont. “I am just amazed at the last two years about everything that my mom has accomplished.”