Originally published in TEACH Magazine, January/February 2022 Issue
By Britt Jungck
The children need us. We are entering a very critical period in the field of education, and the responsibility to “show up” for our students has never been greater. Last year, as I witnessed the toll this pandemic was taking on my own kids, I realized that not only were my students hurting, but young people everywhere were struggling. It seemed like the perfect time for a change.
Teaching has been a part of my identity since 2003. I’ve taught in all kinds of different environments: a tiny village of 750, an urban district with systemic poverty issues, a middle-class town with little diversity—even community and private colleges.
In 2020 I started working for a new school district, right in the middle of the pandemic. As classes moved online and curriculum and basic routines became the sole focus, I noticed a light was shone on the inherent biases present in many schools. Within my own classroom, I was suddenly hyper-aware of how the lack of representative curriculum, combined with feelings of isolation brought on by the pandemic, was harming students. This became a revelatory moment for me, and I decided to make some changes.
Britt Jungck is a licensed Master Educator for the State of Iowa. She gets her joy out of inspiring students to read and find themselves in books. She has been working with K–12 students all over Iowa since 2003, and is currently earning her PhD in Education with an emphasis in Social and Cultural Studies & Public Policy from Iowa State University.
