STAFF SPOTLIGHT: Jessica Honer
JESSICA HONER
Lead Teacher
Lower Erdkinder
What led you to become an educator?
I became an educator because my imagination is ginormous, and I needed a good place to let it out! My love for puppets, children's theatre, and languages brought me to my first Montessori classroom while I was an undergrad. I started teaching Spanish in an Early Childhood classroom with my puppet, "Carlitos"- a foreign exchange pre-schooler from Nicaragua- and we led line bilingually a few times a week. I fell head-over-heels in love with the Montessori learning environment. Wide-eyed babies explaining the world to me and my puppet with tender compassion and total intrigue became the highlight of my life. My journey to full-time Montessorian is a long and winding road; retrospectively, the classroom is such an obvious place to have landed, I can't believe I didn't know it all along!
What do you love about working at MANH?
MANH is a new community for me, and I have integrated smoothly- I think that says something special about this place. There is a commitment to growing and being responsive to the needs of the space and the kids that makes it okay to be new, okay to make mistakes, and okay to try again. What a great place to have found myself and my daughter (who super loves MANH because "Miss Shelbi LOVES animals and Miss Oksana is a cursive master"!)
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at school?
When I'm not reading, studying, designing projects and leading my crew of ragtag middle schoolers to glory, you will certainly find me whipping up a delicious meal. I require many, MANY accolades which has enriched my family's celebratory vocabulary immensely! Don't worry if words fail you; I take praise in interpretive dance form, too. I love chess and play a game a day and will shamelessly beg anyone around me to play with me. I have picked up boxing this year, which I feel especially tough about, though my darling sheepadoodle, Walter (a committed pacifist), does not agree.
I love being a teacher. I super love these kids, and I am so happy that my daughter, Iris, and I are a part of the MANH community!