We’re excited to announce the arrival of Jaea, our new Program Coordinator!
Jaea is a graduate of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where she studied Communications and Family Social Sciences. This fall she received her Master’s in Public and Nonprofit Administration from Metropolitan State University. Her love for nonprofits motivated her to pursue administrative management work. She’s happy to join AdoptAClassroom.org to help teachers set their students up for success. As a first generation college student, she understands and appreciates the work teachers do as she credits her teachers for helping her to attend college.
To have some fun, we asked Jaea a few questions about her own classroom days:
Who was your favorite teacher?
My favorite teacher was an English teacher who taught college prep writing. He really helped me hone my writing skills and I would not be as successful as I was–and as I am today– if I hadn’t taken his class.
What was your favorite school lunch?
Italian Dunkers. I am still craving those and I have not had one since 11th grade.
What was your favorite school activity in elementary school?
I would say fourth grade science. We would build structures out of Legos. So we would build moving towers and cars out of Legos for two months. Every time we went to science, we’d team-up and we would have a set of Legos to create a project. It was really hands-on and the teacher left you by yourself so your team had to work together to collaborate and to build that foundational structure. It helped build autonomy and leadership skills, and it was really fun.
What was your favorite activity during recess?
Playing ‘Hot Lava.’ You couldn’t step on the ground and our playground was set up in a circle, so you could pretty much get to everything. I loved the monkey bars and just playing Tarzan on the swings. We’d swing really high. We’d also do backflips.
What was your dream job as a child?
When I was little I idolized my older sister so much because she was so beautiful and smart and she had so many friends. I was usually the quiet kid in my family and my sister had this outgoing personality. She wanted to be a pediatrician so then I went around saying I wanted to be a pediatrician too. But unbeknownst to me I was pronouncing it as pedestrian. I was going around saying, “I want to be a pedestrian.” And to this day my sister and my brother still make fun of me, especially when we see the pedestrian crosswalk signs on the street.