Amy Jenkins-Costa has spent most of her career teaching kids how to read. Since 1997, she’s worked mostly as a reading interventionist in the Chamap[Champaign school district, first at Garden Hills Elementary School, then at Westview Elementary. Since 2012, the Centennial graduate has worked at South Side Elementary as a first-grade teacher and reading interventionist, the role she holds today.
I find my work important because ... I get the opportunity to teach kids how to read. I not only get to teach them to read, I get to expose them to the love of reading. My favorite part of the day is reading to children. As they are learning to read, you see their confidence grow and become risk takers. There is just something about seeing the growth each child makes throughout the year or telling you about what they have been reading.
I became a teacher because ... my grandma was a teacher and I just always wanted to teach. I used to play school on her sun porch with her old teaching materials. I would teach my dolls and play school at any chance I could. Plus I want to give students a safe, loving, caring environment to come learn in each day. I love creating a classroom culture that is a family and works together. I always tell my class that I have 24 day kids and four night kids.
My favorite or most unique lesson that I teach is ... My favorite lessons I get to teach are hands-on activities and projects. We have culminating activities at the end of our reading units, and it is so much fun to see the students shine in different areas. We will do plays where they act out the stories, we will make models of the earth using colored clay, creating puppets to retell fairy tales and fables, carve Oreos into the different phases of the moon, etc. I remember each time we did a special project last year, one of my students that struggled each day would always say, “This is the best day ever. I love this school!” Providing lessons that meet all learning styles and watching my students shine are my favorite!
My most fulfilling moments on the job are when ... I see former students and they remember something special about me being their teacher or a special activity. One special moment was when I was shopping for shoes with my kids and I saw a former student. He told my kids that he remembered me buying him a book at our reading night and that it was his first book. As a teacher you may never know the true impact you have on a student, and hearing stories like these makes the job, the time, and effort all worth it.
I keep students engaged by ... getting to know them! I spend a lot of time getting to know my students and their families. This gives us the opportunity to connect on many different levels. This way my students know I care about them and their learning. I also have a collection of M&M dispensers, and we sample all the different kinds/flavors throughout the year. They earn them for showing their greatness! Former students will return to see what flavors we have.
Something else I’m passionate about is ... helping others! My mom tells me that I come by it honestly. I want to see my students succeed and have what they need to learn. Whether it is an extra snack, a special hug, lunch together, new shoes, a ride to a special event, or their own yearbook, etc. I will find a way to make it happen. I enjoy taking care of others whether young or old, it just comes naturally to me.
My favorite teacher and subject to study in school was ... my third-grade teacher, Miss Sandberg, at Community Christian School (now Judah). My favorite subject was spelling and reading. Miss Sandberg would let me grade spelling tests and workbooks during recess time. I remember getting to read in a bathtub full of pillows and blankets and discussing books with my friends. She would always have fun projects for us that just made school fun.
If I weren’t a teacher, I would be ... a nurse — this way, I could still take care of and help others.
— ANTHONY ZILIS