Jessica Hei

There were many moments leading up to the choice to pursue teaching, including: my jewelry teacher saying I'd be a teacher in high school, not being able to get into graduate school for psychology, getting laid off 6 months following my graduation, and then working for 4 years in LTC Medicaid Enrollment. But the entire time, I wanted to support others, and teaching became my passion to help others rise to their full potential.

My first year of teaching, I got to meet some of the most wonderful students who really showed me how vibrant they are as artists, makers, and humans. In my first year, I had students complete a 3 layer jewelry project and had them think through the theme of anger/passion. This project created such meaningful pieces of work and included 2 students who created jewelry pieces that were entered into the Scholastics Art and Writing competition and they won a gold and silver key, all because of them!

If I won the $25,000 I would use most of it to fund my classroom with new jewelry tools and materials to ensure they always had the materials they needed to create amazing pieces. I would also use some of it too pay off a majority of my student loans that helped pay my way towards my masters degree in education and during my student teaching year. And finally I would put a remaining bit towards my future with my fiance; I love him so much and he supported me through my student teaching year.