Hanna began her Japanese journey as a language student in high school. A native of Kansas City, Hanna earned a B.S. in Japanese language from Georgetown University, spending one year studying at Waseda University in Tokyo. Upon graduation she worked as a Coordinator of International Relations for a small town in Kochi, Japan for two years. Returning to the U.S., she earned master’s degrees in elementary elementary and world language education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Hanna began as a teacher of Japanese at Hill-Murray School and has gone on to establish Japanese language programs at both Parkway Middle School and Harding High School. She is in her 14th year teaching IB (International Baccalaureate) at Harding. Along with her students, she is active in JASM and Saint Paul-Nagasaki Sister City Committee events. 

For over twenty years, Hanna worked at Mori no Ike, the Japanese language and culture immersion program of Concordia Language Villages, leading summer, family, and weekend programs.

Hanna has also studied French and Hungarian, living in Budapest with her family for one year.  She currently lives in St Paul with her family where she enjoys travel, cross-country skiing, baking and all sorts of creative textile activities.