A Knight to Remember: Emily (Bugger) Hahn
By Ray Popkess
In every city, there are people known as “pillars” who hold up vital aspects of community, education and philanthropy in order to create a thriving ecosystem. The Triad School District has produced a multitude of individuals who give back to the community that gave them so much.
This week, the Times-Tribune reintroduces a graduate from the Class of 2005 in Emily (Bugger) Hahn, former competitive dancer for the Lady Knights Dance Team and now serves as a pediatric dentist for the greater St. Louis community and beyond.
Before officially becoming a Triad Knight, Hahn spent her childhood growing up in Belleville while attending Our Lady Queen of Peace. She was told by her educators that she had a knack for the spotlight.
“When I was in pre-school, we put on a performance show and my teacher said to my parents, ‘You need to get that girl on a stage,’” recalled Hahn. “My parents then allowed me to dance when I was 4 and I danced competitively all the way up until high school.”
Maureen’s Dance Studio in Belleville was where she enrolled to learn the art during her primary school years as she competed nationally, performing solos among other routines.
Once she completed her eighth grade year at Queen of Peace, her parents built a house in Troy and moved into the school district over the summer. There, Hahn was faced with a decision to make.
“When you get into high school, you have to make that choice whether you want to dance with your friends or dance competitively in a studio. I opted to be involved in high school instead and did a lot of other extra-curriculars beyond dance team,” said Hahn.
During her high school career, Hahn brough
From left: Heather (Magee) Siegler, Meghan (Buddemeyer) Kaverman, Ann (Pierce) Uding, Aiden Hahn, Emily (Bugger) Hahn, Jeannette (Jacoby) Kline, Lauren (Butler) Clark, Sandie (Ovelgoenner) Powell, and Shanna (Underwood) Faires at Hahn’s Installation as President of the Greater St. Louis Dental Society this spring.
t up fond memories of Triad Dance Coach Amy Kelly-Johnson, who is the current principal at Mascoutah High School. With no separation of a junior varsity and varsity dance team at the time, Johnson was pivotal in helping Hahn get acclimated to the Lady Knights’ squad.
“She was wonderful. She was a really good advocate for me because I was a freshman on a team with a bunch of older girls,” shared Hahn.
As her class and friend group ascended through their high school career, Hahn and the eight other dancers in her class helped the Triad Dance Team win third place in kick at the State Competition in their senior year, while qualifying for state in three out of the four years she was there. But Hahn focuses on the relationships she’s built through dance rather than the accolades that came with it.
“It was very special to do that with all of my closest friends. We had such a senior-packed team and that team atmosphere has been supporting me throughout my adult life. It generated this camaraderie that no one other than Triad can.”
Throughout high school, Hahn competed in dance as well as contributing to Triad’s theatrical productions. Before deciding where she would go off to college, she knew she wanted to work with children in some capacity.
After completing a trial-run shadowing session with a dentist that was a client of her father’s, Hahn pursued another shadowing opportunity with her childhood dentist at Associated Pediatric Dentistry.
Once her final dance season concluded, former Knight Phil Barras passed along a tutoring opportunity to Hahn as the baseball season was starting up in 2005.
“The girl I was tutoring, her mom was a nurse at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. She knew Dr. Andy Kim who was a dentist at the hospital and set up another shadowing opportunity for me. He was like ‘Yeah, you can come shadow.’ He let 16-year-old me come work at his office in Hazelwood every summer and I just kept going.”
After graduating from Triad, Hahn had found her passion in pediatric dentistry and furthered her education at Marquette University in Wisconsin, completing three years of undergrad and four years of dental school.
From there, she completed two years of residency in Yakima, Washington in order to open up her own practice. After her residency, she knew she wanted to come back home with her future husband from the Pacific Northwest.
Her time spent under the wing of Dr. Kim at Children’s helped determine her landing spot in St. Louis. “I have a special place in my heart for children with special needs. Working at Children’s allowed me to see the most medically complex and the kids who needed the most comprehensive care.”
Now an owner of two pediatric dental practices in Missouri, Hahn still stays connected with her Triad roots on a weekly basis. “As a dentist, I see a Triad graduate’s kids at least once a week. To see a public school with that kind of alumni network is pretty awesome. We just had our class reunion last August and it’s amazing to be able to remind people of that get-together just by having them come into my office.”
Hahn had kind words for the vocations of her graduating class and attributed them to keeping everyone in close proximity. “I think social media is a powerful tool [for reconnection], but it’s nice to see people face-to-face and it’s interesting that our entrepreneurial class has allowed us to network with each other very well.”
Outside of the office, Hahn was recently installed as the President of the Greater St. Louis Dental Society in the spring of 2026 and is heavily involved in the Missouri and American Dental Associations. In addition, she participates in a lot of volunteer leadership with organized dentistry to advocate for oral health for everyone.
“I’ve talked to a lot of Triad grads that are foster parents,” said Hahn. “Finding dental homes in Illinois and finding providers for those [kids] is something that they need and we find solutions in the network that we have. They often can’t find anyone that can do dental work for them, so they just come here and I take care of it because it’s the right thing to do.”
Reflecting on her time at Triad, Hahn attributes her success in collegiate academics to the preparation that went into her high school classes. “I was in some pretty competitive programs, and it was astounding how well I was prepared for college. I was in classes with people who went to renowned private high schools across the country and I was able to stand side by side with them. I think it’s pretty amazing that our public school was able to do that.”
Even after all the years she’s spent out of high school, she still reveres teachers and faculty that remembers who she was and who she’s now become.
In her free time, Hahn loves spending time with her husband, Corey, and two children, Aiden, 8, and Alex, 4. She enjoys every moment she gets to hang out with her friends within the dental society and outside of it. Her family lives in Chesterfield, Missouri, about 50 minutes west of Troy.
If there are any former Knights you deem worthy of being featured in a future ‘A Knight to Remember,’ send inquiries to us at 1200 12th St. in Highland, Illinois 62249. If you’d prefer to send a digital inquiry, email our sports reporter, Ray Popkess, at [email protected] and he will respond to you promptly.
