Mrs. Jessica Mann was the School City of Mishawaka Teacher of the Year 2015-16. She was very surprised and shocked at first but then she was super ecstatic and honored to receive such a title. Mrs. Mann has only been teaching at Mishawaka High School for three years, she says that’s part of the reason she was so shocked to be the district's Teacher of the Year.
While in graduate school, she realized she needed a job to support herself so she began substitute teaching. She liked being a substitute and did it for about two years but then came to the realization that she needed a full time job. She applied for a teaching job at a private school.
Some things Mrs. Mann has done that she’s proud of are, going back to New Orleans three weeks after Katrina to start working at the first public school to reopen after the hurricane. “It was a complete act of faith” Mann states. She's also proud of the early college program starting here at MHS.
"Being in the Top 10 for Teachers of the Year is a personal accomplishment"
In her classroom environment she likes to get students talking because she wants to hear their thoughts and their voice. Mrs. Mann likes class discussions because she says that students can learn from each other and that's important. On top of enjoying class discussions she also likes to go to Chicago to visit museums and go to Chinatown for dinner. She also likes to read, spend time with her family and swim. She got most excited when talking about going to tremendous fruit farms because there are so many different fruits to pick and she gets to be outside. Mrs. Mann states, “I don't want to live my life in a quiet way, I want to make sure I'm changing other people's lives too”.