Jessica Hernandez, a fourth grade teacher at Compass Community School’s Orange Mound location, was introduced to the education field early on in life, having had a grandmother who was a teacher.
“I kind of grew up with her in the background,” says Hernandez. “She taught for many, many years. And eventually she retired, and then she went to go teach at a private school. She gave me the general influence to become a teacher.”
Growing up, Hernandez attended school in the Bolton area, and while in middle school, she had her first experience working with children within urban communities during a summer church academy. “It was very eye-opening, and I realized that this is where the most need is going to be,” she says. “That’s what really caught my attention … this is probably where I need to be.”
After she graduated high school, Hernandez attended the University of Memphis, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She started her teaching career within the Shelby County Schools district, splitting five years between Cherokee Elementary School and Belle Forest Community School.
After that, she switched over to teaching within the Memphis Jubilee Catholic School Network until they closed their doors after the 2018-2019 school year. The following school year, many of the remaining campuses reopened as Compass Community Schools, and Hernandez was able to continue teaching at the Orange Mound location.
“Just like any other school system in Memphis, they’re growing,” she says. “But considering that we’re in our founding year, I think Compass is a great place to work. I get a lot of support. I get a lot of feedback. I get a lot of recognition for my principles. I love the parents. They’re very involved. Compass is a great place to be.”
At Compass, Hernandez teaches all subjects, but her favorite subject to teach is math. A self-described “math junkie,” Hernandez has realized her passion for mathematics during her teaching career, but it hasn’t always been her forte.
“When I was a kid, I was not very good at math,” says Hernandez. “Math was my weakness. And I grew up pretty much an average C student. It wasn’t until I became a teacher that I really learned how to work with numbers, how to understand numbers, and how to get children to understand numbers. It was such a weak spot for me as a child, but it’s a strong spot for me now as an adult; my passion is helping kids understand the things that I had the most trouble with.”
Hernandez says that although Common Core Math gets a lot of pushback, it has become an invaluable tool in her classroom.
“If I would have been taught Common Core Math as a child, I think that I probably would have been a lot more successful,” she says. “And because I am able to expand and teach my kids a lot more of a variety of strategies now than I was ever able to learn as a child, I think that really helps them see that math is not this big, scary thing.”
Hernandez centers much of the students’ learning around technology, using Google Classroom to post lessons, slideshows, videos, quizzes, and tests, and for students to share collaborative works with each other directly. Hernandez says she also incorporates programs like Khan Academy and Prodigy to help children understand math.
“I think it’s really important for kids to learn how to use technology in this ever-changing world we live in,” she says. “Because we are very fortunate to have technology at Compass, I can find ways to use it as much as I possibly can.”
In addition to using technology as a teaching tool, Hernandez says she also relies on a hands-on approach to teach her students, incorporating activities such as scavenger hunts, escape rooms, and construction of topographic maps of Tennessee.
“I am not a textbook type of teacher,” she says. “I do not like to sit and do lectures, so my kids are constantly moving around.”
More important than academics, however, is the connection Hernandez has forged with her students.
“If I don’t connect with my students and learn about who they are as people, if I don’t learn to accept them and recognize that I have a very wide classroom of diversity going on, then I will get nowhere,” says Hernandez.
“Building relationships is key. Get to know your children before you do anything. Get to know people. They are little humans. So know them, talk to them, laugh with them, play with them. And then, after you’ve done that, focus on the academics.”⎢
We want to shine a light on your child’s teacher, or even a teacher who made a difference in your life. Submit your nomination today by emailing teacher@memphisparent.com.