Jennifer Kennedy
“The needs of our students have changed significantly since I began teaching…we have fallen behind in providing an education that prepares them for a technologically integrated future. I wish… to bridge this gap.”
– Jennifer Kennedy
I earned my teaching certification from Seattle Pacific University after returning home from Japan where I taught conversational English to adults and sang songs with kindergartners as I studied Japanese. I worked briefly in Seattle exporting tuna and crab to Japan, but I found that education would provide a more meaningful career for me. I taught at several schools in Washington before moving to Nevada in 2004 where I have been teaching at J. Marlan Walker Elementary ever since. I met and married my husband here where we live with our dog and cat. I love my school community and my colleagues have become my dearest friends. It is so fun for me to be a part of a community in which I can attend graduation parties of students I taught in kindergarten. As I progress in my career, I realize that I am never established. It is always essential for me to improve and apply new teaching strategies as new research and the needs of students change. I must grow and change with my profession.
J. Marlan Walker International School is a public school established 17 years ago as a dual language school in which students learned the curricula in Spanish half the day and in English the other half of the day. The program was successful for many years, but the leadership and the needs of the has community changed, and the immersion Spanish program was decreased and then ceased altogether. Currently we our evolving with the goal of becoming a state distinguished STEAM school. Our technology goal is to have a computer for every student. Currently we have 84 chrome books and 20 i Pads for 675 students. We have 6 self-contained classrooms in our school. 34% of our students receive free and reduced lunch. The needs of our students have changed significantly since I began teaching during the economic boom of 2004. During that time we have fallen behind in providing an education that prepares them for a technologically integrated future. I wish to contribute so as to bridge this gap.