She gives kids in DC space to discuss mental health. Now, she’s a national teacher of the year finalist

There’s a note taped to the wall near Jazzmyne Townsend’s desk at Stanton Elementary School in Southeast D.C.

It’s from a third-grade student who Townsend worked with last year, and it was written after a session in Townsend’s office. It said, “I love the way you teach me.”

The student wrote the endearing note after Townsend noticed she was struggling during a multiplication exercise. Townsend realized the student may learn best by doing things physically, so she took out some puzzle blocks, allowing the student to make a multiplication number sequence with them. Then, the student used a white board so she could draw pictures to help.

The student enjoyed the activity, Townsend said, because “every part of her physical body was involved in that learning experience.”

She felt compelled to share her appreciation with Townsend, who was struck that it didn’t just recognize her teaching method, but praised the way she had been teaching that individual student.

“One of the things that really stuck with me was the importance and the value of making learning personal,” Townsend said. “Making sure that I’m really addressing her needs, her interests, her learning style and how that increases her motivation, her investment in what she’s doing, and it gives me the opportunity to help her to maximize her ownership of the learning.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee recognized Townsend as the city’s Teacher of The Year in October, and she has now been named one of four educators to be a finalist for the National Teacher of the Year honor. A selection committee with 14 members reviewed applications to determine the finalists.

Townsend’s mother was a teacher, and her sister was too, so she said she was determined to pursue a different career path. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Howard University, and was planning to work in the corporate sector. But when she graduated in 2009, during the recession, those jobs weren’t as readily available. So, she worked as a paraprofessional for half a school year at Friendship Public Charter school, and then was a lead teacher by the next school year.

She’s now worked for the school system for 16 years, has a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the American College of Education, and is pursuing a doctorate from there as well.

At Stanton Elementary, she’s an instructional coach supporting kindergarten through fifth graders.

“I am going to be that teacher that’s going to get on the floor right beside you,” Townsend said. “I’m going to be that teacher that’s going to play in the Play-Doh with you, and get messy and do all those things, because creating that collaborative environment, that collaborative space, really shows kids just how invested you are in them.”

Townsend also launched My Sister’s Keeper, an initiative for fourth and fifth grade girls that offers them a space to discuss sensitive topics. The group meets twice weekly and talks about mental health, social media and puberty, among other things. It’s still ongoing at Randle Highlands Elementary.

“It was just a safe space for students to come in to talk about things that they maybe felt uncomfortable talking to their parents about, things they felt like they did not have another trusted adult inside of the school building to talk about,” Townsend said.

To make sure kids aren’t absent because they don’t have clean clothes, Townsend introduced the “Loads of Literacy” laundry initiative. One of her former student’s parents own a local laundromat, so she invited families in to wash and dry as many clothes as they wanted for free.

While the parents tended to the clothes, “We had local authors come out and do read-alouds. We had school supplies. We had books available for families to take home.”

She’s planning to make that an annual event at the beginning of the school year.

When she’s not at school, Townsend attends her students’ sporting events, bakes, listens to Frank Sinatra and plans DIY projects. She keeps lists and sends calendar invitations to keep track of it all.

“I’m going to show up,” Townsend said. “I’m going to give you my everything, because I want that same thing back from you.”

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