Jelena Holcomb

Jelena Holcomb of Rockford is a Kindergarten teacher at STEAM Academy at Haskell, where she’s been the past five of her 21 years of teaching. A student’s parent wrote, “Mrs. Holcomb is an absolutely outstanding partner in learning. She is dedicated to a challenging yet rewarding curriculum. She truly is the epitome of a first-class educator dedicated to helping each student be their best self.” In the last 10 years, Jelena has seen many curricular changes in the district. She works to create “a balance between explicit instruction and discovery learning” and to “not just follow the scripts, but to connect the new curricular to prior curricular resources that would enhance the learning experience. I work to find ways in which I can introduce a new story, a memorable song or fun hands-on materials that will help my students make a personal connection to the content.”  A retired teacher who observed Jelena said she “showed a great many outstanding techniques while still maintaining the integrity of the curriculum she is required to follow.” Jelena says, “My focus is for my students to have growth in social emotional learning, reading, writing, speaking, listening, mathematics, science and social science.” She introduces goal-setting early and discusses goals, outcomes and expectations often. She promotes diversity by making each student feel valued and by incorporating language, vocabulary and geography into the curriculum. They “discuss that fair does not always mean equal and we have discussions about what that means for individuals and our class.” She also shares biographies of leaders of diverse backgrounds from the past and present, showing students that they all have the potential to do great things. Jelena encourages students to consider the class a community. Her students cheer each other on for successes and offer encouragement to keep trying or to use another strategy with challenges. They are provided a safe space to share their truths and respectfully agree or disagree with each other. Jelena feels that her “commitment as an educator shines through the most in the smiles, laughs and words of my colleagues, my students and their families.” Another observer agreed, writing, “you can tell her love for teaching by watching the students.”