COMAL COUNTY, Texas — Jennifer Fey was up front and center when every single person at Hill Country College Preparatory High School filled the hallway to cheer for her.
“I thought it was Secret Santa,” said an emotional Fey as she accepted her KENS 5 EXCEL Award.
Fey is their English teacher but she says It wasn’t always her plan.
“I was old. I was in my late thirties and I decided to enter the teaching profession."
A late start in her teaching career turns out to be exactly what she needed.
"I was able to identify with the students because of my own children."
And clearly, what these kids needed too. As one of her students pointed out, "She's also like this teen mom, the soccer mom.”
At this project based learning school, Fey has proven to be the perfect fit.
"Being in a PBL school, it's so different than the traditional high school."
Her students say Fey has helped them navigate tough times and an important learning curve at such a unique school.
"We were a part of the first class to come to the school. She knew what she was doing and she was able to guide us through it when we were really nervous."
With more life experience and previous corporate knowledge, Fey has a wide imagination when it comes to planning intricate, thoughtful and purposeful projects.
"The main thing with project based learning is it needs to be authentic. A skill you would really really need in real life,” Fey said.
To push her students to new heights, she gives them roles that involve a lot of research, and reading scholarly articles.
"I was inspired by her to actually be a part of the school,“ one student said. "And it made me feel a lot more confident with my ability to actually take leadership roles in the school."
Especially in an integrated classroom like Fey’s.
“I work with a history teacher and I'm English. The two are both humanities subjects so say we are looking at trials and we're looking at how the government works. You might read To Kill a mockingbird with that and then you pair it up,” Fey said, “And we're actually going to be putting on trials in January where the kids will actually have a whole courtroom."
Fey says there’s always a strategy and she requires her students to come up with one, just like in the real corporate world.
"Whether it's the Mexican war for independence or the French Revolution, you have to market this to your stakeholders and come up with an actual plan of how you will recruit and what are your actual goals and outcomes that you'll have."
Her classroom is always an experience and her students love it.
"There's never a dull moment. She's always there. She always tries to make it entertaining."
Fey says she strives to build a relationship they'll likely never forget.
"I know a lot of us are just doing this because we love kids and it's nice to feel appreciated and just watching them blossom and grow makes me proud like a mom."
Fey also received a $1,000 check from KENS 5 partner Credit Human as part of the KENS 5 EXCEL Award.