Meet Jennifer Stephenson, M.A.

TEACH Program Manager

TEACH: What do you love most about working in education?
JS: Hands down, my favorite part of working in education is building relationships with students. Seeing students grow and achieve is rewarding, but it’s also a long-term process that begins with day-to-day interactions. Having spent most of my career in early childhood education, that relationship-building aspect was truly magnified. I had the opportunity to nurture my students from day one. In fact, the hardest part of leaving KIPP was leaving my students; they became family.

TEACH: Who do you consider one of the great teachers in your life and why?
JS: Ms. Lederman, my social studies teacher during my junior year of high school. She made class so engaging and relevant, even when she was teaching us about events that happened 70 years ago. My husband, who was in that same class with me, and I still remember her fondly and think about the impact she had on our lives. She was that classic teacher character that seems pulled out of a TV show, but she was real! In fact, when she retired, one of my drama club classmates and I were setting up for an event and wandered into her classroom, where she had left a handwritten note on the chalkboard: “Let your life speak.” It was so touching. It’s what she wanted for us, and I still think about that. She touched so many students’ lives during her career. I hope that’s something I’ll be able to say when I retire one day.

TEACH: At the end of the day, what is one thing you find most fulfilling about your job?
JS: It has already been so rewarding to walk away knowing a teacher will be able to immediately use the TEACH skills I’ve shared with them. Hearing teachers in their own words describe how they’ll implement the feedback I’ve provided them is extremely powerful.