Karen Hatlestad is the Low Beginning Teacher and Co-Program Coordinator at VSS. Karen graduated from Morningside College in 2013 and immediately earned her Teaching English as a Foreign Language certification from Hamline University. She volunteered at Neighborhood House starting in September 2013 until June 2019. Karen is a recipient of the 2019 Volunteer of the Year award from Literacy Minnesota. Karen has been a substitute teacher in Adult ELL since October of 2015. Karen has taught all levels of adult ELL at Neighborhood House, Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota, Hmong American Partnership and MORE - all in St. Paul. Karen enjoys helping students learn English. When not teaching, Karen can be found jogging or walking around the neighborhood and listening to music from around the world and across genres.