SCHOOL: Elm Street School - Grade 2
Jessica Harvey is one of the most hard-working and talented educators that I have ever encountered in my 20 years working in education. Her classroom is a place where students and families thrive because of her dedication, experience, compassion, and love for her students. She is deeply invested in her own professional growth and continuously attends and advocates for professional development that is relevant and will help her continue to grow as an educator. She brings her new learning into her classroom through engaging, thoughtful activities that encourage her students to take risks, demonstrate a growth mindset, and take on new challenges in their learning. She celebrates diversity and she is always finding creative opportunities to highlight ways that individuals from a variety of backgrounds and experiences have contributed to their communities in meaningful ways. She teaches her students the importance of civic responsibility, advocacy for others, and the importance of taking care of the world they have been given. Her students feel loved, accepted, and they know they have found their school family within the walls of her classroom because of the way Jess so delicately and intentionally crafts a classroom environment where all students can thrive. Jess is a special person, a talented teacher, and one of her parents last year said it best, the world needs more teachers like her because she makes kids feel empowered to create a world where everyone belongs and everyone is loved.