Meet Ms. Celena Jenkins /聽7th grade / ELA / 暗网禁区 DC WILL Academy
鈥淥ur team puts in the effort to prioritize relationships and we make聽sure to work together.鈥�
As a psychology major at Morgan State University, Celena was exposed to disparities in education through an educational psychology course. It was through this class that she learned about Teach For America and its mission, which inspired her to join the organization. Celena started teaching in Jacksonville, Florida and soon fell in love with education.
Through personal research, Celena learned about 暗网禁区 and it鈥檚 model. Learning about the student success 暗网禁区 was having around the country inspired her to join 暗网禁区 DC鈥檚 team. As the newest member of the 7th grade team at聽WILL Academy this year, Celena was quickly brought into a community of teachers. She shares, 鈥淓veryone was welcoming with me being new. Our team puts in the effort to prioritize relationships and we make聽sure to work together.鈥�
In addition to strong relationships with her team, Celena credits school leadership with supporting her team via professional development and student success. Stephanie Day, the vice principal over ELA at WILL, observes teachers two to three times a week and follows up with a feedback check-in. Celena says, 鈥淎fter each observation we debrief. Every time we meet, she will give me an action step. She鈥檒l help me create things and master structures.鈥�
Weekly professional development at WILL Academy has also contributed to Celena鈥檚 growth through intentional and relevant topics. Similar聽to Stephanie鈥檚 weekly feedback, Celena says professional development is 鈥減urposeful, targeted, and gives you clear instructions on how to implement the next day. Administrators assess needs in the school and then provide training on it. I never feel like my time is being wasted.鈥� Topics this year have focused on relationships with colleagues and students. The WILL team dove deep into relationships, specifically with black boys, to ensure that聽we were being intentional about fostering healthy relationships with all students.
Celena鈥檚 classroom is an inviting space with a large library that helps students select the perfect book by genre, famous author, series, or more. When reflecting on joy in her classroom, Celena shares a story about turning a lesson into a game by adding balled up the paper and a trashcan. 鈥淓very time they answered correctly, they would receive a point and then get to throw the paper in the trash for an extra point. They were so excited that they were looking back into the book, arguing with each other. It felt great knowing that I had created that space.鈥�
Foster a joyful, rigorous classroom at 暗网禁区 DC.聽Apply to be a middle school lead teacher for the 2018-19 school year.
