One of Jesuit’s longest serving faculty members, Ms. Janet Jones, has been named the state’s most outstanding science teacher by the Texas Medical Association for her expertise and knowledge in teaching science.
After considering 350 nominations and 190 applications, the Texas Medical Association on Friday May 2 presented Ms. Jones The Ernest and Sarah Butler Award for Excellence in Science teaching in the high school teacher category, a $5,000 check, and a $2,000 grant for Jesuit’s science department. Ms. Jones 40 years of teaching at Jesuit surpassed by far the award’s minimum eligibility of two years classroom experience. In fact, Ms. Jones could not attend the annual Jesuit Faculty Dinner, where her lengthy tenure at Jesuit was recognized, because she was accepting the TMA’s award.
The award came following an extensive application process, detailing her educational history and professional development, three letters of support from a supervisor, a colleague, and a student/parent, and two professional question essays, one a detailed autobiography with her reasons as to why she became a teacher and the other a discussion of her teaching philosophy. Then, all of the applications were sent to a 2-step evaluation process.
In the first step, a 12-member team of science professionals from the University of Texas Charles A. Dana Center volunteered their time and expertise to sift through the applications to determine a finalist pool. Then, a secondary panel of judges, a group of physicians from the TMA Educational Scholarship, Loan, and Awards Committee reviewed the applications from the finalist pool, picking one science teacher from an elementary school, middle school, and high school that met the undisclosed final criteria.
In her first essay, entitled “What Influenced Me to Become a Teacher,” Ms. Jones concluded “that the process of becoming a good teacher is ‘nature’ enhanced by a great deal of early-year ‘nurturing’ and followed by learned lessons from the old school of hard knocks.” She discusses how teaching ran in her family with her mother teaching for over 35 years, exemplifying her dedication to the profession both in and out of school. Then, during her senior year of high school, she was given “an opportunity to teach [her] mom’s [2nd grade] class.” Her first real opportunity to teach “was in the Biology Labs at college.” She would set up the labs and lecture during the post-lab discussion analyzing observations and establishing concluding remarks. Her professors all held a firm belief that she would be a great teacher if she truly put her mind to it.
One true test to her career choice came when she was asked to teach on an Indian Reservation in Niobrara, Nebraska where she was the only science
teacher, teaching students in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade Science as well as Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. “Just plain old-fashion hard work and endurance was the key factor that brought everything together,” she writes. “The difficulties I faced and the obstacles that I overcame made me a far better, tougher, and more dedicated teacher.”
After teaching on the Reservation, Ms. Jones moved to the small town of Washington, Oklahoma where, she writes, “in the seventies, evolution was not acceptable to some of the parents and they demanded my resignation.” Although it “wasn’t a pleasant experience…it was all in the task of making me a stronger teacher.”
From Oklahoma, Ms. Jones came to Jesuit in 1974 and began teaching biology to incoming freshmen. In addition, she, along with physics teacher Mr. Max von Schlehenried, direct the Jesuit Medical Society, which provides understanding and groundwork of the medical field for students who may be willing to become doctors in the future. Senior Patrick Arraj says “Jesuit Medical society has impacted me by exposing me to the world of medicine, from cat dissections to clinical rotations to a medical mission trip to Guatemala.”
Her second application essay outlines her philosophy and concept of teaching, as well as the curriculum and extracurricular work that come with the position as lead Biology teacher on campus. Likewise, she emphasizes the myriad of intangible rewards received from her students such as acting as a role model and having the knowledge of igniting that spark of the burning desire to learn more in regards to “the fundamentals of Biology and Medicine.”
In regards to her philosophy, she said “it is my goal to develop in each of my classes a creative and exciting environment so that every student is informed, challenged, and inspired in such a way that they develop an eager desire and excitement for learning.” Learning is indeed important to the one’s quest for knowledge, but Ms. Jones also ensures “that the lessons are exciting and fun.”
Each day, Ms. Jones strives “to serve as a role model to [her]students by being well prepared and well versed in each day’s course content and having [her] materials, visuals, and presentations up to date and ready to present.” However, her method of teaching is not only through lectures and presentations, but also maintaining “a two-way communication process so that…the students…feel free to present their results and discuss their findings in a friendly, inclusive environment.” Ms. Jones notes that the positive feedback from her students has corroborated her methods of teaching as successful and enjoyable.
Ms. Sheryl Row, senior English teacher and friend of 34 years, congratulated her, saying, “She knows more about biology than any other science teacher I have ever met. She even teaches me about biology! Many of her students and ex-students alike revere her, which is particularly evident in the guys who have become doctors and note that she had spurred their interests.”
Jesuit is very appreciative of the time she has spent with its community and the differences she has made in her student’s lives. From The Roundup and the Jesuit community, we would like to congratulate Ms. Jones on her fabulous work and excellence in science teaching!
