Jessica Gibson – Knapp Elementary, 2nd Grade

I fell in love with teaching during the fall of 2007 when I studied abroad for five months in Buenos Aires, Argentina, through the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). Throughout my semester, I had the opportunity to teach weekend English immersion camps to local Argentineans of all ages and skill levels in the picturesque countryside settings of Mendoza and Córdoba. I experienced a two-pronged love affair for the Spanish language and the art of education, and decided that I needed to keep both passions alive in some capacity for the rest of my life. Inspired by this discovery, I applied and was hired by CIEE as a Language and Culture Assistant, and moved my life to Málaga, Spain, to work in a bilingual elementary school for one year on the Mediterranean Coast. I was heavily involved in the primary classrooms at the school, teaching English lessons, translating curriculum and generally helping to move the bilingual initiative of the region forward. I privately tutored adolescents and adults during my time outside of the classroom, and had the exciting opportunity with the help of a coworker, to design, implement and lead an after-school English club for third graders. At this point in time, I decided that upon my return to the states, I wanted to make teaching my career.

I could not have found a better fit, in terms of a Master's program, than the Denver Teacher Residency. The innovative model, inspiring faculty and staff, and true dedication to closing the student achievement gap and creating lasting educational reform within the Denver Public Schools district, join together to create one of the most powerfully proactive programs I have seen in my life. As Cohort II enters a new wave of teaching with high standards and demanding goals to meet proposed improvements in public education, actually getting the students achieving at the necessary state-standard levels will prove to be a great challenge. However, the myriad of support systems ranging from local all the way to the national level that the Denver Teacher Residency is receiving makes me believe that these goals are attainable and I am excited to be an agent of real change. I am honored to be a part of the Denver Teacher Residency family and look forward to beginning the necessary work to close the student achievement gap.