Jennifer Robertson always wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. An elementary education major with a concentration in mathematics from New York, Robertson soon discovered that wasn’t the path God wanted for her.
“Everywhere I went, they wanted a math teacher,” Robertson said. “OK, this is where I am meant to be.”
An Archbishop Spalding High School math teacher for 11 years, Robertson was named the Archdiocesan High School Teacher of the Year in May.
“I’m very humbled and very honored to receive this award,” Robertson said. “I feel very honored to represent my school and the archdiocese.”
She had been teaching math for 15 years to middle schoolers in Anne Arundel County when the opportunity to teach at Spalding became available halfway through the school year. While she initially refused the position so as not to leave her students mid-way through the school year, she took a “leap of faith” when it was still available at the end of the year. She now feels “very thankful and blessed” to be teaching high school at Spalding.
“The biggest difference is the kids are really tired,” Robertson said, with a laugh. “Middle schoolers have a lot of energy. I have a lot of energy.”
She considers herself “not a traditional math teacher.” While she will introduce math concepts, she lets the students figure them out and do the thinking.
“It is fun to watch them take risks and grow in their journey,” Robertson said, who floats between different churches.
The students at Spalding are “so fortunate” to have Robertson as a math teacher, according to Regina O’Hara, Spalding’s principal, as “she cares for them.”
“She is a phenomenal teacher and also a phenomenal human being,” O’Hara said.
The staff at Spalding is “very supportive” to both the students and each other, Robertson said. After teaching so long in public schools, she appreciates the opportunity Catholic schools provide to “teach the whole child,” not just the subject.
“Every child is unique,” Robertson said. A teacher now for 26 years, she still gets excited when her students have “that ah ha! moment.”
“It never changes. Whether in fifth grade, middle school or high school,” Robertson said. “That sense of pride, ownership, confidence, when they get it.”
Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org
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