Ask Jessica Felice about her teaching style, and she’ll tell you her goal is to be Miss Frizzle from “The Magic School Bus.” Felice said she incorporates any and all teaching styles that reflect her students’ needs while also trying to make the content come to life.
“I try to make my students live what we are learning,” Felice said. “If they are experiencing it, they are talking about it, having feelings about it, questioning it and teaching others about what they experienced in my class.”
Felice hails from New York, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Childhood Education from SUNY Oswego and her master’s in Special Education from Binghamton University. She was a substitute teacher while working on her master’s degree, and after teaching in New York for a year, she moved to Richmond to work for a private school in Glen Allen, and then she ended up at Bellwood Elementary.
This is Felice’s fourth year at Bellwood, where she teaches fourth grade. Felice became a teacher after realizing how much impact teachers have on students’ lives.
“A teacher can squash confidence, make students feel dumb and give up on themselves. A teacher can also make students feel important, excited and believe that they are powerful,” Felice said. “Who wouldn’t want to make that kind of impact on someone’s life? It scares me sometimes that I don’t do enough, but I know I will never allow myself to give up on being the best I can be for them.”
Felice’s favorite part of teaching is making connections with her students and solving the puzzle, which is what drew her to special education.
“I enjoy getting to know the students, learning what makes them tick, what motivates them, and what their goals are,” Felice said. “I have been able to figure most of that out at recess, [at]lunch, or during our after-school sports club and cooking club that I run.”
Chesterfield students have been making their way back to in-person learning twice a week, so Felice has been “hybrid” teaching, and she has been excited to have students back in school. Although the pandemic has made classes frustrating, Felice said collaboration, flexibility and supportive colleagues have kept the school year moving forward for her.
Felice was announced as a Teacher of the Year recipient earlier this year, and she called the honor humbling.
“I think it’s safe to say that when you ask any teacher what makes a good teacher, they will give you a response involving making a difference and positively [affecting]students’ lives,” Felice said. “This award makes me feel like my colleagues think I am doing this because they are the ones who selected me, [and]if that is true, then I am accomplishing my career goals. It is very humbling and makes me very proud.”
When it comes to her future, Felice said she has no plans to go into administration; she pursued teaching because of the kids. She said her goal as a teacher is for students to remember having been in her class.
“I would like them to look back and say, ‘That was the year I learned to be a friend to others, to be confident, to question the world, to keep trying, to decide [I] want to get out and explore the world around [me],’” Felice said.
