THOMPSON FALLS — Even though the school year is coming to a close, we’re still highlighting our Montana teachers - One Class at a Time.
This week’s winner is a native Montanan and you could say she went into the family business. Jessy Lewis teaches sixth grade reading and Social Studies at Thompson Falls Elementary School.
She’s taught around the state and around the world, but recently she’s come back home.
“I’ve taught in a couple different places in Montana," Lewis explained. "And then the year before I moved to Thompson, I taught down in Panama and I have family in this area so it was kind of just where can I be close to family? And I landed in Thompson Falls.”
Both of Jessy’s parents were teachers and she always knew she wanted to follow their path. But she’s technically gone into the family business, her love for her students is all her own.
“I do a lot of group work, I have them collaborate a lot, work together on different things and to do that more easily, I’m gonna be getting a hexagon table so I can have a larger group of them sit around the table and be able to do the different and have those collaborations with one another,” Lewis shared.
These collaboration projects include cool learning moments like building ancient Egyptian pyramids and planning set design for a Christmas play, so a flexible seating arrangement like the hexagon table Jessy will buy with her $250 One Class at a Time grant will be a perfect addition to her classroom.
“Collaboration is just something they need when they get out of school, so it’s showing them those first steps of how do we work together, how do we do this, and just melding that into their everyday lives.”
Between both her reading and social studies classes, Jessy helps her sixth grade students see all the fun in working together.
