About Us

Jackie Johnson never wanted to be a teacher. “Every teacher I have ever had told me that I would be a teacher someday, so I was determined not to be one.” Instead, she earned a zoology degree and worked with rare and exotic animals in a zoo. Gradually, caring for the animals morphed into teaching school groups visiting the zoo. “Before long, I was more involved in our zoo’s education program than I was with animal care, and my interactions with children quickly became the greatest parts of my day.”

Realizing that she wanted to be a full time teacher, she went back to school and earned her master’s degree in Elementary Education. Jackie credits her diverse education and wide variety of jobs for her ability to communicate with practically everyone she meets. “By communicating well with students and families, I am able to develop a true understanding of what the students’ needs are and am better equipped to meet those needs. Because of this, students in my class make exceptional educational gains.” Instead of the expected seven-point growth on standardized tests, young learners in her class have averaged a 17-point gain.“Rather than see me solely as a distributor of information, I want my students to realize that I, too, am a learner in the room. When they see their teacher in that light, students are more willing to take risks.”

Jackie brings the same commitment and dedication to what she does to strengthen the teaching profession. She mentors other teachers in math pedagogy and has served on the district’s teams that write technology and math curricula and select math materials. When new math materials arrived that weren’t ready for use on the “smart boards,” she created flip charts and shared the materials with the entire district.

The 14-year teacher places a quote by James Baldwin on all her correspondence: “For these are all our children; we will all profit by, or pay for, whatever they become.” Jackie believes that “equitability” is the most important issue in education today. “Nothing in NCLB accounts for any growth past that minimum level. As a result, our passing students are not getting left behind, but they are getting left out. Imagine how high achievement would rise if ALL students, not just those failing, received the benefit of extra materials.”