Jennifer Jeffes
Clearwater Christian College
BA History
Western New Mexico University
MA Interdisciplinary Studies: History, Political Science, and Education
Tell us about your family.
My husband, Ryan, and I have three girls, all of whom attended Seven Rivers from Kindergarten. We are thrilled with the education they received at SRCS and by the many teachers who influenced them spiritually.
Why did you become a teacher?
I came from a family of teachers, and perhaps because of this, I was determined to become something else. In high school, my dream was to become an attorney for the state of New York and prosecute mob leaders! Home for Christmas break in my senior year, I was asked to substitute for a high school math class for an afternoon at the school my brothers attended. After teaching just one hour, I was hooked. I walked out of the school that day ready to look for a teaching job. I have since found that there is nothing, for me, as energizing and exciting as telling students about the world and the one who orders it.
What is your favorite course to teach, and why?
It always seems to me that my favorite courses are the ones that I am currently teaching. In teaching the same courses over many years now, I have learned just how much more there is to learn about the study of history. I enjoy adding to my own understanding and love for history with every passing year. I do have a special love, though, for teaching economics. Out of all the courses in the history and social studies department, economics seems to be the one that draws students in most naturally. I love the very quick learning curve that comes with this discipline -- how quickly students understand and recognize economic principles and how easily they can identify how those principles apply to decision-making. Since economics requires an understanding of a lot of historical and political knowledge, it is, in some ways, the best of all worlds.
What do you love about SRCS?
One of the things I love most each year is graduation. Although the beginning of each year brings fresh starts and new opportunities, the end of a school year, and particularly the conclusion of our students' grade-school education, always fills me with a sense of accomplishment. Our graduates have spent their formative years at SRCS and have built the foundation for future learning here. Each year, I think about the part that teachers from grade-school on have played in our graduates' ability to read, write, and reason. I hope I will be here for many more years and see many more graduates live the significant life for which God designed them.
What is a favorite quote?
"The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don`t want a world of engineers." -Winston Churchill
