Teachers going the distance

Our teacher features this week shares teachers' passions beyond the classroom and their committed to the district by waking up early to commute long distances from Longview and Rainier to serve our students.

Katie Baker came to Wahkiakum amidst pandemic learning as a student teacher, then became a full-time substitute and has been in the fourth-grade classroom for three years. When she was growing up her teachers had a strong impact on her, specifically Nicole Wilson and Carrie Badger. She knew from early elementary that she wanted to teach and to be a teacher that made students feel loved and cared for like she was. Katie is a proud product of Wahkiakum School District and graduated from here.

As a teacher she is motivated when she sees the difference in student's growth from the beginning to the end of the year. "It is a great reminder of the amazing changes (that) are to come with each new class. I always look forward to seeing kids reach new milestones and accomplishments."

The four-day school week has made teaching more productive for Mrs. Baker by having longer blocks of time to dedicate to instruction and more time for firsthand science projects. She also appreciates the social emotional learning time in the morning each day and feels refreshed being able to use Fridays to plan, reducing her stress levels to be a more effective teacher.

Her hobbies outside of school are listening to music and attending concerts. She enjoys camping, hiking, and traveling to National Parks when the weather is nice. In addition, her family collects board games, and she loves to keep her mind sharp by practicing game strategies. Lastly, Mrs. Baker is a summer camp counselor for third and 12th grade students.

Jade Jennings comes to us from Rainier each day and is a dedicated middle school math teacher, going into his 3rd year here at JC Thomas. In addition to teaching 6th, 7th and 8th grade math, Jade also teaches Natural Resources CTE (Career and Technical Education) course. When asked his “Why” for teaching he shares, “short answer is simply because I should.”

Mr. Jennings is motivated by the opportunity daily to give kids the confidence to gain life skills to solve problems, think clearly, to question and establish positive perseverance. He views the four day school week as an opportunity for kids to deepen the conceptual retention of applied math. “Losing a day has been the opposite of my initial expectations to consolidate and cram in lessons. Rather than losing a school day, the kids gained one day to forget language or operation associated with how math looks in an academic setting; so, my instruction has slowed down to accommodate and incorporate more time and opportunity to deepen conceptual retention for applied mathematics.

Outside of school Jade operates a taxidermy business, Jennings Taxidermy, in Rainer. He also spends his time spoiling his little girl. “Fishing was how I used to spend most every minute that I wasn’t stuffing stuff.”