Teachers have one of the most important jobs in the world. Teachers inspire and guide us to learn, read and write so we can grow up and pursue our passions as adults. This Teacher Appreciation Week (May 8-12), we’re focusing on the individuals making educationhappen every day.
We asked teachers from local schools and districts in Frederick County that won our 2022 Readers’ Choice Poll (December 2022/January 2023 issue) about how and why they do what they do, and just like teachers always do, they delivered.
Appreciating Collin Kenny, Frederick Classical Charter School
What is something that teaching has taught you?
It’s possible to have a smile every day at work. The kids are an unending source of joy. There is something to celebrate each day. If you show love to the scholars, they’ll love you right back.
What teacher impacted you most growing up? Why?
John Nicodemus, my eighth grade algebra teacher. I struggled in math. He never gave up on me. I was friends with his daughter, and [he] treated me like part of the family. He became a role model and inspiration for me. I’ll never forget how he noticed I had pretty bad razor burn, and he asked how I was shaving and then offered recommendations on how to do it less painfully! It was about more than just teaching me math; he taught me my value as a human being.
What is one thing you’d like parents to know?
I’m actually an introvert. Being “Mr. Kenny” is exhausting, haha. The Mr. Kenny I am at school is the idealized version of me. I’m actually pretty quiet and shy!
Appreciating Marji Zetts, Young Rembrandts
What is something that teaching has taught you?
One of the things that teaching has taught me is how to engage each student based on their individual needs and skill level.
What teacher impacted you most growing up? Why?
It’s hard to pick just one! I would say that the most influential teachers in my life were Mrs. Arrants (fourth grade), Mr. Gereber (fifth grade) and Mrs. Applebaum (sixth grade). What all three of these individuals had in common was a wonderful combination of wisdom, gentleness and patience.
What is one thing you’d like parents to know?
As the mother of five young adult children, I would like parents to know that these formative years, while challenging at times, are some of the most rewarding. And yes, they do pass all too quickly!
Appreciating Jessica Leatherman, The Banner School
What is something that teaching has taught you?
That grit and grace are two of the most important gifts you can give someone. I have high expectations in my classroom, with the understanding that we are human. The focus isn’t on the fall, but in the rising. It’s not the critic that counts, but the lessons learned when you are face down in the dirt. It is the becoming—the blossoming—that has value.
What teacher impacted you most growing up? Why?
The person (within education) that had the most impact on me was [a] young woman we affectionately nicknamed “Suz” (as in Susie without the long “e” sound at the end). She was in college, I was in high school and we found each other in a community outreach group. She led, and I followed. She loved “her” kids. To her, we mattered. Suz came and sat with us in our story, as messy as it was at times. She took the time to understand our needs and met them in a way that made sense to us. Her goal must have been to fill the unique hole in each of our hearts. Perhaps this wasn’t a math class or science experiment, but in her eyes you could do anything. She believed in us more than we believed in ourselves. Isn’t that the person we want teaching our children? The person that can bring a smile to someone’s face 25 years later? She taught me that my dreams were important enough to say out loud…and that it was worth the
journey to get there.
What is one thing you’d like parents to know?
Try walking into any social event and casually throw out the buzzword “education.” The reaction is almost palpable. Tensions and tempers rise. The words that come back are “failure” and “broken.” This reality and its effects have been a theme in my classrooms, parent/teacher conferences, professional developments, my family’s dinner table conversation and in the tears of my own child night after night. Teachers are devastated. Parents are heartbroken. I was both, so I left in search of better. Parents: don’t settle. Life is too short. Fight for what your kids need. Seek out what you want for them. There is more to life than learning “how to be in school.” Inquiry, experiential learning, hands-on activities, project-based learning…all things that are out there and worth exploring.
All About…
Collin Kenny teaches his students about history, music and technology at Frederick Classical Charter School. As a 16-year veteran of the education field, Kenny has learned a lot. A Hood College alum, he received his bachelor of arts in history with a secondary education certification and his master’s degree in the humanities at Hood College. Kenny is currently in the running for the Tressler Distinguished Teacher Award, sponsored by Hood, which honors “distinguished teaching in the Frederick County Public School System” to recognize the influence of an exemplary teacher on the lives of the students.
When he’s not at school, he lives in Jefferson, where he indulges in hobbies like music and fish keeping.
Marji Zetts has been planting the seeds of education for 11 years. Young Rembrandts is an after-school arts program that teaches children more than art alone; it also teaches handwriting, attention to detail, organization skills, vocabulary, persistence and patience. While Young Rembrandts is a national organization, the local Frederick franchise offers lessons and workshops
in Frederick, Urbana, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Germantown, Potomac and Clarksburg.
When she isn’t leading children in exploring the visual arts, Zetts lives in Gaithersburg. There, her free time (of which teachers have little) is spent reading, drawing, exercising at the gym or researching her family history.
Jessica Leatherman has been teaching for 17 years. She spent most of her time in the public school system teaching Special Education before she transitioned to teaching first grade and kindergarten. This past school year, in 2022, she joined the staff at the Banner School as a kindergarten teacher.
Leatherman lives in Myersville and enjoys running, painting, photography,
