By Chloe Johnson
Ms. Harris is a 9th- and 12th-grade teacher who came to DRSS to teach each student about the importance of writing, reading, and communication skills throughout all aspects of their lives. It all started in 2001, after 9/11; she marks that event as the start of her teaching career.
 |
| Jackie Harris is a 9th/12th grade language arts teacher at the Dayton Regional STEM School |
Before STEM, Ms. Harris taught in the Dayton Public School
system and at a charter school. Throughout her teaching career, she has always
taught language arts. Ms. Harris received her undergraduate degree in English
from the University of Louisville. After receiving her degree, she realized her
passion for all aspects of language arts. Originally from Oklahoma, she
traveled a lot because her ex-husband was in the military. Ms. Harris admits
that when she was a student, her favorite subject was language arts, so it was
logical for her to teach that subject. She had always enjoyed reading and
writing. Surprisingly, she said, “In middle school, it was not my strongest
subject. It’s funny, math was.” However, once in high school, she realized
English was her favorite and strongest subject. After Ms. Harris received her
degree, she started taking prerequisite classes for teaching before moving to
Texas.
Not everyone thinks STEM has
language arts classes. When Ms. Harris first saw the ad for the school, it was
before STEM became an official school. It was still in its planning stages. However,
after seeing the ad again, a year later, the position for a language arts
teacher was open, and she was inspired to apply for the position. It worked out
in the end because now, all students will have Ms. Harris as a language arts
teacher during their high school career at STEM.
Ms. Harris does not find it
unusual that she is a language arts teacher at a STEM school. At first, it took
some time for her to figure out how language arts fit into the STEM curriculum.
However, once she discovered how, she absorbed the culture and ideas STEM
offered. Since language arts is a combination of many skills, it provides
students with many different skills necessary for outside of the classroom.
Language arts is communication. The purpose of language arts is to teach
students both verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Even when reading a
book, there is some type of communication between the author and the reader.
With communication, it helps to develop a person’s character and determines the
way the world sees them. When asked about what her favorite part of language
arts is, Ms. Harris happily replied, “All of it.” She believes no one part can
be taken away from the other; it is too interconnected.” Finally, language arts
is the foundation of the other subjects because it teaches students how to
communicate in all aspects of life. It is important that through communication
people can see the real you.
Like every teacher, Ms. Harris
has a favorite project that she instructs each year. The novelette project is
her favorite unit to teach. Each year, she changes up the requirements and
procedures. Ms. Harris stated, “I like it because of the way it’s gone through
a lot of transitions over the last couple of years.” The project incorporates
different types of writing and allows students to explore humanities through characters.
In addition, she discussed how reading
plays a role into language arts. Ms. Harris believes, “You learn a lot about
life through the reading that you do.” From each book or article, you are
learning something from them about a part of life you did not expect. People
can learn about others through what they read and write. Sometimes, teaching
students about the importance of both parts of language arts can be a challenge
because they don’t understand why they are necessary.
All in all, Ms. Harris teaches
her students about the importance of language arts and how it impacts their
future. There are many components to language arts including: communication,
listening, reading, writing, analyzing, public presentation, conversational
skills, etc. Ms. Harris is happy at STEM. She enjoys the STEM environment
because of the faculty and students. It is shown by how supportive the students
are for one another. The students at STEM want to help and become more
understanding of each other. The STEM environment allows more students to be
accepting of each other’s flaws, passions, or anything that makes the students
special. It helps students learn because sometimes, students learn better from
their peers. Ms. Harris believes, “Language arts is a necessity at the STEM
school and beyond.” Even for the students who don’t think they will go to
college, they will still need communication skills in their future careers. The
skills people learn in language arts affect their lives forever, and Ms. Harris
has a huge role in that for many students.
