Terri Jensen, Counselor, Art City & Brockbank Elementary
Nominated by: Amber Park
“Ask anyone and they will agree that Terri Jensen is positive energy and kindness. She is a delightful person to be around. I am the Skills Building technician at Art City Elementary. Terri has been an incredible support to me. She offers advice and is remarkable when it comes to collaboration. She has been instrumental in helping our school establish a space for social and emotional learning. She teaches students how to recognize and acknowledge emotions appropriately, and she does it in a way that is memorable and engaging. I have observed her in several classroom presentations, and it's like I'm sitting in a master class. She is so awesome with the children! It is magical watching her at work.
“Terri has been tasked with the responsibility of addressing college and career awareness/readiness with elementary-age students, and her approach has been brilliant. She designed, from scratch, an entire program that encourages personal goal setting and life skills development. As part of the program, she put together a goal tracking binder that was provided to every student in the school. She follows up with the students and motivates them by celebrating their successes. She even arranged a special assembly to kick it all off.
“At our school, Terri is in charge of the student council. Last school year, my daughter had the privilege of being a part of that group. From a parent's perspective, I got to see how Terri helped to develop confidence and leadership skills in my own child. She supported the students in taking responsibility for planning and executing monthly activities and school assemblies. Terri is literally training up future leaders for our schools and communities. I am so grateful that my daughter had the experience of being mentored by her.
“Terri loves people, and she especially loves the children. I have no doubt about that! During the final student council assembly last May, Terri did something that clearly proves this point. The student council thought it would be fun to select children from the audience to throw a pie at each one of the student council faces. A pie was made for each member and the same number of students brought forward. It was then discovered that one of the student council members was absent, leaving an extra student waiting with a pie in hand. Terri didn't miss a beat as she voluntarily stepped right up to take a pie to the face. The whole gym erupted with cheers, and that became the highlight of the assembly.”