Small town girl to big city teacher

In Ms. Jackson’s 9th grade Oklahoma History classroom, the dim streaming lights hang down from the ceiling with natural light coming from the window which gives off a warm welcoming vibe. 

Ms. Jackson is from Spencer Oklahoma, a small town 17 minutes east of Oklahoma City. Being a country girl at heart and growing up on a farm with many animals, she says her humble beginnings have influenced the way she teaches.

“Being from a small town, everyone is really forced to know everyone, and I want to create that same community in my classroom because in history it’s a lot of opinions and a lot of truths,” Jackson said.

Jackson’s goal is to create a tight-knit community where all of her students feel comfortable speaking their own minds. She is comfortable with being a presence in the life of her students and helping them through personal problems.

The vibe she wants in her classroom is to be able to have students come to her when times are tough, and she does understand how stressful it can be to be a student in this day and age. Especially with dealing with a pandemic along with many other complications in a student’s life.

Jackson had also come in halfway through the year last year which was quite a challenge considering that she was fresh out of college and that she had only been teaching virtually for half a year.

“I felt like it was me just trying to adapt to what was going on, not that it was a struggle, just a change in what I was doing,” Jackson said. 

She wanted to teach at Santa Fe because she’s always heard good things about the education system in Edmond and how the community always comes together. She is looking forward to learning more about Santa Fe and its students.