Kaitlyn Jarrell, the ninth and twelfth grade English teacher at Federal Hocking High School, was born in Gallipolis, Ohio and grew up there. She is 23 years old. Jarrell has seven siblings, she’s close with her mom and always has been. She knew she wanted to be a teacher from a young age, but she had thoughts of being on Broadway in high school. Speaking of high school she did cheer, dance, show choir, theater, Model United Nations, and track. She graduated from the University of Rio Grande with a degree in seventh through twelfth grade Language Arts Education. She has some fond memories of her professors from Rio.
“Professor Damian Caudill is my favorite because he understands his students and he is very open minded with things. So if people came in and they were like, hey we need to have a mental health day then he would spend the whole period being like hey let’s talk about it.”
That coincides with Jarrell’s goal to leave an impact on her students to let them know they have teachers that care about them. She also wants to preserve her relationship so that students want her to be back next year. She incorporates personal expression into her students’ work by letting them have a say in their assignments. One of Jarrell’s biggest challenges though has been making students care about their grade and trying to make teaching interesting.
“One big theme that is relevant to my life would be acceptance, whether that is myself or of other people, I think that has really shaped me.”
One of Jarrell’s key experiences outside of teaching that has shaped who she is as a teacher is not having great teachers in high school and that made her want to be a better teacher. One of the reasons she became a teacher is because she liked to read but she didn’t like how books were taught. A memorable moment of success for her teaching is when she gets gifts from students because it shows the connection she forms with her students. Speaking of students, many of the students love her.
“She really cares about her students and I know I could go to her if I had any problems,” Vanessa Harris, a 9th grade student, said about Jarrell.
She thinks Jarrell is a really good teacher especially for her first year teaching. She enjoys classes with Jarrell because she thinks she is a very personable teacher. This shows Jarrell’s goals have succeeded in making students feel like they have a teacher to talk to.
