"If I could choose to be somewhere right now, I'd choose this place." - Jean Voigt
Every child walks into a classroom with a unique story, but it's the rare educator like Jean Voigt who ensures they all leave with a shared feeling of triumphant self-worth. As we chat with the Minnesota Teacher of the Year semifinalist, Jean unravels her heartening journey through the educational landscape, unveiling the personal touches that make her classroom at Kennedy Community School a haven of growth and positivity. From a morning welcome to the intentional building of student confidence, Jean's approach is a lesson in the profound impact of love and belief in a child's potential.
The launch of our school podcast is a celebration of voices, ideas, and the shared moments that infuse our every day with a bit of classroom magic. We leave our listeners with a heartfelt appreciation for Jean's story and an invitation to contribute to the unfolding narrative of our vibrant educational landscape.
Have a great podcast idea? Submit your idea to communications@isd742.org
Subscribe and thanks for listening!
"If I could choose to be somewhere right now, I'd choose this place." - Jean Voigt
Every child walks into a classroom with a unique story, but it's the rare educator like Jean Voigt who ensures they all leave with a shared feeling of triumphant self-worth. As we chat with the Minnesota Teacher of the Year semifinalist, Jean unravels her heartening journey through the educational landscape, unveiling the personal touches that make her classroom at Kennedy Community School a haven of growth and positivity. From a morning welcome to the intentional building of student confidence, Jean's approach is a lesson in the profound impact of love and belief in a child's potential.
The launch of our school podcast is a celebration of voices, ideas, and the shared moments that infuse our every day with a bit of classroom magic. We leave our listeners with a heartfelt appreciation for Jean's story and an invitation to contribute to the unfolding narrative of our vibrant educational landscape.
Have a great podcast idea? Submit your idea to communications@isd742.org
Subscribe and thanks for listening!
The 742CoffeeCast is your ultimate destination for insightful conversations, thought-provoking ideas and innovative strategies in St Cloud Area School District. Your host is Director of Community Engagement and Communications, Tammy Dilan. Grab a cup of coffee and join us. We are so excited to have Jean Voigt joining us today on CoffeeCast. Jean is a second grade teacher at Kennedy Community School in St Joseph and was recently nameda semifinalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Welcome.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm honored to be here. And congratulations it's just so exciting it is. It's very exciting and overwhelming.
Speaker 1:I bet, I bet, and we really want to go down that very adventurous path for sure. But I'm wondering if you could start out today just by giving us a little bit of your background, how long you've been in the position you're at now, how long you went at the district, that sort of thing.
Speaker 2:Okay, Well, I took an unconventional route to teaching. I started my education degree right after college and then I got married young and had children and stopped going. And then I started up again in my late 30s and so I was a non-traditional student, which was a really unique perspective at college. And then I was hired right after graduation right in the beginning of 2017, at Kennedy Community School and I taught third grade and I stayed in third for a couple of years and every year I would say just put me wherever you need me next year. I'm fine with whatever I did third grade, fourth grade and then a four or five combo and then, finally, I was moved down to second grade and then, after that year, I asked to stop moving because I love second grade so much and I've been at Kennedy the entire time. So this is my eighth year at Kennedy and I absolutely love it.
Speaker 1:You know, I have a burning question about if you always have known that you wanted to be a teacher, or did this career take you by surprise?
Speaker 2:So I've known that I've wanted to do something nurturing, because I'm obsessed with children. I just love them and their spirit and their creativity, and everyone always told me I should be a teacher. There was a while I wondered if I wanted to be a teacher in front of everyone all the time, because I'm a bit of an introvert. However, I knew I wanted to do something with children and so once I finished my degree and got into the classroom, I knew there was absolutely nothing else that I was meant to do.
Speaker 2:So, once you had the experience, yep, yes exactly, and I did a lot of volunteering when my kids were younger so I kind of knew and I taught like wordmasters and things like that. So I had an idea of what it would feel like on a much smaller scale.
Speaker 1:So I knew I was getting myself into what's absolutely the best thing about being a teacher, Like when you get up in the morning. This is the one thing that keeps you going my kids for sure, I mean.
Speaker 2:I think that there's not a single child who has left my classroom feeling poorly about themselves. I don't think any one of them would ever say that Ms Voight doesn't think I'm good. And I, that is my most proud thing in the world. And why do it? That's great.
Speaker 1:We hear a lot about how hard teaching is today, that things have changed so much, and, and that this is almost an overwhelming job. What can you talk a little bit about the challenges?
Speaker 2:I think one of the most difficult things is just having a thick skin and not worrying so much what everybody else might be thinking about you, because, for one, you're up in front of the class and, having taught several different grades, there were times I would come across something that I was not an expert at and I almost was relearning at the same time as the students, and you learn really quickly that if you just say, oh shoot, I did make a mistake, even if it's to the parents or your admin or your peers, or oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot that, if you can give yourself that forgiveness, then everyone around you sort of does too, no matter what.
Speaker 2:I just think about the impact that I can make and what the relationships and the growth that I see in my room, and I've found that if we are kind and understanding to parents that they're great to work with, loved every parent I've ever encountered that I've had their child in my room, and so, yeah, it can be challenging. If you're organized, you can get it all done within the hours that you need to do it and go home, and it's a really great balance for me. That's great. What's a?
Speaker 1:day like If I were to drop by Kennedy tomorrow. What would the day be?
Speaker 2:like. It just depends on the day and the year. Some years we need a lot of structure and routine Well, and we generally have that no matter what. Even more so if we have friends who have a hard time regulating. But students arrive in the morning. I try to have some peaceful music playing and we have some sort of morning work. I stand by the door and greet them each by name, because I had heard that students don't always hear their name in a positive way every day, so I make sure that they see me smiling and happy to see them. And then we have breakfast and do a little chit, chatting and communicating with each other, and then we just get on with our date. We do a lot of fun steam lessons.
Speaker 2:It's often loud in my room. When it's appropriate we are doing science and math and technology and everything all at once. We have dumped all of our things on the rug to engineer things and it can be quite overwhelming. But then there's also times where you'll hear classical music playing and everyone's reading and you could hear a pin drop in the room. So it's busy, it's a whirlwind and it's beautiful. Can you imagine doing anything else?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:I couldn't. I know that this is where I need to be.
Speaker 1:It's a calling then yeah, what would you say is your overwriting principle or your overwriting vision when you think about teaching kids and making that impact that you just described? What's that vision?
Speaker 2:I always say love them first. I had heard it on a documentary that I watched in college. I've almost gotten a tattoo on my arm actually, just because every child has good in them and every child wants somebody to see that good in them. So if I make the decision that I'm going to love every single child that walks through that door it's so easy to do because they all have something and then they see that I care for them and that I'll have their back and that I'm their safe place, and then they live up to that. So I say children will always live up to the way or what they see reflected on your face. So if I look at them and I say I know you are good, oops, we're making a poor decision right now, but I know that you want to do better. They truly do. They just want somebody that believes that they can.
Speaker 1:And you talked about seeing their confidence. Can you talk a little bit more about that? First of all, what does that look like and why is that so crucial that they have that confidence, that they can walk around this world in Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, it seems like perhaps we should be able to take that for granted, but no, no, I think, especially for kids who aren't able to conform or fit in everywhere or succeed right away, they don't have that natural confidence. They don't maybe have the support at home Some of them do, some of them don't. They maybe have behavioral issues that they just think make them a bad person or unable to learn. They just need to see that they're making growth. So when I think of confidence in a student, I can see confidence in any one of them, because if you come in and you can't read any words and then a few months later you can read three words, well that's something to celebrate. And if you celebrate with them in a way that you're not telling people what their capabilities are, they are proud of themselves and then they have the confidence and they'll try something new.
Speaker 2:And with my high flyers they're confident and I want to build upon that and make sure that they know that they should seek out more and ask a higher order thinking questions and push themselves. So I think anytime, if you can always see it if a child feels confident, if they feel secure, if they know that the person that is taking care of them truly thinks that they're wonderful, it's sort of like that man skipping with his pickle. You know, you just, they're just happy as can be and they don't worry about what anyone thinks. And suddenly they don't worry about what they're doing wrong, because they realize that just one small aspect of their lives where they're just beautiful people, I love to see those faces and I taught many moons ago.
Speaker 1:That's why I asked how do you know? Because you can see it.
Speaker 2:You can.
Speaker 1:That is a direct line. Once they've gained that confidence, let's talk about this amazing.
Speaker 2:EuroSummit finalist for.
Speaker 1:Minnesota Teacher of the Year. So so amazing and wonderful.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Also you said overwhelming and a little bit crazy Talk about the process, like how does this come about? What does it feel like right now? Where is it going?
Speaker 2:I found out about it months ago and I actually sat on it for quite some time, just because you start to think, well, why should I get this nomination and not all of my peers? And we're all getting there early, we're all doing so much more, we're all pouring our entire hearts into our jobs every day, talking about it outside of school, thinking about it, waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it, and so I almost didn't even go for it, just because I felt like I would want to share it with other people. But then I thought about it and I thought well, I got nominated and I do absolutely love teaching and I think I would have been disappointed in myself if I hadn't really gone for it. And there's a process of writing and getting recommendation letters and submitting different videos and resumes and all of that, and so now we're at the point where I've done another video this week and just waiting for the next cut. I guess you would say when is the big?
Speaker 1:announcement how much?
Speaker 2:Just this week I got an email that everyone who is nominated is invited to an assembly or a banquet on May 5th, so I believe that's when the winner will be announced.
Speaker 1:Will be announced at the beginning, may, ok, and so really it sounds like you put together a portfolio I did and then you're updating. You just did another area.
Speaker 2:So the process is kind of a living breathing it is, and it's a little bit ironic I was at the same time nominated for the PAMPS award, which is the Presidential Award for Math and Science Teaching.
Speaker 1:Oh, congratulations.
Speaker 2:Sorry, that's a hard one to say I didn't know that I don't tell anybody. I mean, this one just was made public so I don't. Otherwise nobody would have known about it. But it's just speaking of the portfolio. They both had were huge projects and so I just did them both at the same time and so it was.
Speaker 1:And you're teaching every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it was quite overwhelming, but it's humbling very humbling, but so exciting.
Speaker 1:How does your family react?
Speaker 2:They, of course, love me. They think I deserve it. They know I'm an introvert, so they tease me a little bit about all these things where I'm getting attention Michael workers as well. They said I'm going to paste your picture everywhere. Stop it. But yeah, they're very proud of me and I'm really happy. They know how much I love teaching and they know how I speak about it.
Speaker 1:So Are your students aware or are? They low, they are, they are.
Speaker 2:Well, because I had for the PAMPst award. They are, and I actually asked them what I should say on the podcast today, because we're a classroom family so we always share our news. I love it, but I lost where I was going with them.
Speaker 1:We were talking about your kids and how they were responding.
Speaker 2:The reason that they know is that, for the PAMPst award, I had to do a video of my class, and so I had to get permission from parents, and so I had to tell them why I was videoing it and where the video was going. So I mean, I basically and it's true, I think I'm nominated because of my students, and so our classroom family is in the running right now, and we're all very excited about it. They did their best to showcase their amazing talents on the video, and I was excited to share it.
Speaker 1:They're sharing in the glory. That's right.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely that's absolutely great.
Speaker 1:I was once interviewed when I was teaching in. The person that I was talking to said well, teaching such an honorable profession? And I laughed out loud because I, you know, teacher. It's like right. And he was offended. He was offended. He was so earnest that this was an honorable profession and I never forgotten that moment. And as the years progress and different experiences with education, I understand, I think, better what he meant by that and when you reflect on the impact that you're having. You said we're a classroom family.
Speaker 2:And now you have years I do, and they all come see me almost at least once a day. I have somebody that will check in to make sure I still think they're amazing, yeah.
Speaker 1:And they grow into adults who remember you?
Speaker 2:They do, yes, it is.
Speaker 1:I don't laugh at that anymore. I think maybe he was onto something.
Speaker 2:Well, we definitely. I mean, I take it very seriously because I know people talk about the income you might make or different things that are not so glamorous about teaching. But we're placed in our hands are placed 20 to 30 innocent people who we are going to influence, perhaps for the rest of their lives, and so we can't take that lightly, or we have to be very careful with how we treat their little spirits. I wouldn't walk around saying I'm doing an honorable job, but I would say that it's really important and we need to be careful with what we do. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's because we have this modesty. I think it's attached to. But that's beautifully said, thank you.
Speaker 2:Who was your favorite teacher growing up? Well, let's see, I would say it's hard to say, because I went to a private elementary school and then I went to North Junior High and I had Sally Green. I don't know if you know her.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 2:I just remember from my years at North where I felt like I could just be me, like I could come in, I could dress whichever way, I was quiet, but teachers still treated me like I was intelligent and there was room for everybody. And then I moved out of district and I didn't feel like that for a long time, just because it was a smaller community and you really needed to fit in. And so when I came back to teaching I knew that the only place that I wanted to be was 742. Just because my children have all gone. My youngest is in eighth grade now. We've gone through 742 three times now Well, five, if you can include my step sons and it's just such a beautiful community and everybody they care about each other and they want good for each other and we want to learn about our differences and we embrace it and we celebrate.
Speaker 2:It's hard for me to say a specific teacher that was my favorite, but I know the building in which I felt the most safe during my education. How about your favorite book when you were growing up? There's this book and I cannot find it. It was called the Old Red Barn and I don't even know really what it was about.
Speaker 2:Now I'm on a mission and I've always looked and the funny thing is I visited my elementary school. It had closed down and I was looking for this book because I don't know if it was an escape or what it was. But I read that book several times and I don't even remember what it was about. But it's like I can see the cover and I don't know.
Speaker 1:But I it resonated some way.
Speaker 2:I'll probably find it someday and it will be some ridiculous book and I'll think why did I love this? But it's something in it made me feel calm. I'm not sure why. How about do you?
Speaker 1:have a favorite that you read to your kids at school Humphrey, humphrey, we get to read One district, one book.
Speaker 2:That was one district, one book this year, yes, so I told my students because we start in the beginning with the world according to Humphrey, and I like that series because it teaches a lot of social, emotional learning, but in a way that they're talking about a hamster and other children and so my students are able to relate to it in a non you know, it's just an easy way. Where they're, they're imagining a hamster, watching these children deal with the same things that they deal with every day and how they solve it and how they stand up for each other and speak up for each other and all of those things. So when we found out it was one district, one book, we decided we were going to be experts when it came time for the quizzes, because that will happen the second time. We've heard it this year. So they were very excited and actually today one of my students picked out a Humphrey book from.
Speaker 2:We have a vending machine, a book vending machine. You can earn books, and I was surprised because we had just read the book. But here we are again Same books.
Speaker 1:Great yeah, I was fortunate. I got to go out to Kennedy during the launch, if you will, of one district, one book. And so the media center was all decked out with kids size.
Speaker 2:You know hamster tunnels.
Speaker 1:And the Zuzu pets were out and it was, it was really, really. And you could see the day I was there, one class came in while I was there. You could just see the excitement, the building.
Speaker 2:It was very exciting. I actually had to crawl through the tunnels myself. Just because, I was so yeah, well, they were all so excited and I knew they would want me to be doing so it was really fun. Holly does an amazing job every year with the library.
Speaker 1:Yes, really, it was just a step into a different world, the second you walked into the media.
Speaker 2:It often is, and we do. We go to do coding with her at the end of the day on Fridays. Yes, oh my gosh, my students are so excited to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think Holly needs to come on the.
Speaker 2:I do Talk about Holly. Where are you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, holly, I'm going to be calling yeah, no, she does.
Speaker 2:She goes above and beyond. It puts so much into the ideas. I mean she's been talking about coding and computer programming and robotics and things for years and so we're all very excited that we get to do it.
Speaker 2:And when I watch the students and the volume, sometimes my watch will say you're in a loud environment because the kids are so excited and we're coding and we're using our indie robot and we bring it back to the classroom and I got grid paper and now they write codes on paper. So it's amazing what they can do.
Speaker 1:It is, it's a it is. It's an astonishing world and I feel sometimes like, wow, what you could teach me.
Speaker 2:My students could certainly teach me, but as long as they know that I'm willing to to learn it, they'll gladly teach me. So that makes them feel confident to you.
Speaker 1:But touching back just a minute on the Minnesota Teacher of the Year one of the reasons that you're nominated is you've got special sauce.
Speaker 2:You've got magic.
Speaker 1:Can you, Is there a way to condense what your magic sauce?
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness gracious, my coworkers are going to be laughing. Oh, I don't know. I think I see special sauce in so many people that I work with. I mean sometimes it's a fluke year where you get attention for what you're doing, but in our district I mean it could be admin or my coworkers or my paras. We are all constantly thinking how we can better the lives of our students and each other and I think I don't know that I would have thrived if I was in a community where we weren't building each other up and where we couldn't admit I need help right now, and I've never come across a problem or a mistake that I might have made or someone around me where we couldn't just go to admin and they truly cared and they wanted to fix it. And that goes from the very top to the very bottom. I think everyone feels safe here. We feel safe to be ourselves and we know I mean you can. Just it's a family Almost. We can trust each other. I really think we can.
Speaker 1:So no, I don't have special sauce or ass with sauce whatever you say I think you do, but maybe you don't know how to say it I think you did a good job. What is your highest hope for kids?
Speaker 2:That they never stop seeing that they're good.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you have to call it good, but that's just what comes to mind.
Speaker 2:But because I think there were times as a child where teachers would look at me as if I was going to do something wrong and I wasn't, and I was really sensitive and they didn't look at me like I was the good that I wanted to be, and then I would live up to that, and then when I got into a place where they looked at me like, yeah, let's do this, you're great. I was, and I lived up to it, and almost all of my students do the same, and so I hope that there's never a time where they let someone convince them that they aren't absolutely amazing, because I think they are, and that's why I always tell them please come back, I'll remind you, you know. So my greatest hope is that they carry that their entire lives, because there's no disability or any issue or anything you could have happen or have done where you can't turn it around and still find your good, and so I just want them to always know that they can come back and I'll remind them they will always be.
Speaker 1:I'm going to ask a tough question and we don't even have to go there if you don't want to. But the question is what keeps you up at night when you think about teaching or school? What keeps you up?
Speaker 2:Letting them go out into the world. I think they're mostly ready when I let them go. I guess I worry sometimes about if they have everything they need outside of school. I hope they have the food and the resources I most. A lot of times, honestly, it's that I wake up and I'm thinking about something fun that I want to do with them and I can not get it out of my head. So I do worry, but I try.
Speaker 2:I think that teachers can very easily get burnt out, and so I have to take what I can do for them and know that they can always come back and I'm always available to them. But then when I'm at home, I try just to focus on looking for fun, silly activities that we can do or a way to take a lesson that we're about to do and turn it into something magical. Right now we're just about to build a marble ramp that will spin the entire classroom, so it's a big build up. We're very excited about that. So that's the type of thing. I wake up at night and I have to text myself.
Speaker 2:And then I do was texting me and it's myself and I'm telling myself don't forget to do this tomorrow. So I try not to let the heaviness follow me around, because I think a lot of teachers that's why they get burnt out.
Speaker 1:Well, that kind of leads into thinking about that gap from teaching the summer break. What do you like to do during the summers? Teach.
Speaker 2:I've really never I've taken one summer off ever. So when I have, I remodeled our camper and we always take one road trip with our kids in the summer. It's just been always a tradition. This past summer we went to Montana, which was amazing.
Speaker 1:Beautiful place.
Speaker 2:Yes, and we hiked and swam and just had lots of fun as a family. I love reading and I don't get to do that very much. I mean I read until I fall asleep at night, but that's probably five minutes before I go to sleep.
Speaker 2:Honestly, last summer I read a lot of books and I garden and we make homemade salsa and my husband and I fight over who gets to mow the lawn, because we both love it. So, yeah, and my parents live close by, so we walk over all the time and it's great. But I'm taking time off isn't really for me. I found out this year, so this summer I'm going to be working as a coach with a teaching program. That'll keep me busy Well.
Speaker 1:I can't say highly enough how much, how excited we all are about your upcoming accolades. How fortunate those little second graders are.
Speaker 2:And how fortunate I am. I would, truly. I oftentimes will stand there and think, if I could choose to be somewhere right now, I would choose this place. It's just. It's as magical as you make it Wonderful.
Speaker 1:Thank you, jane. Yes, thank you, and before I forget, Okay, we have a present, a present, we have a present for you and I love it, it's the coffee cast.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it. Thank you.
Speaker 1:You are so welcome. Do you have a great podcast idea? Submit your idea to communications at ISD742.org. And thank you for listening to 742 coffee cast, the best place to stay informed and be inspired by St Cloud area school district.