On April 4, 2016, Tallwood High School’s English and Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow teacher Mrs. Jenna Free was awarded city-wide teacher of the year by Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence. The Roaring Gazette interviewed Mrs. Free about her initial reaction and about teaching in general.

Q: Congratulations first of all.  What was your first initial reaction to becoming 2017’s Virginia Beach Citywide teacher of the year?

A: I could not believe that they were here to tell me that it was me. I just figured, you know, top five! It’s such an honor! Great! And I just figured they would have picked someone else. So I was just in shock and excited, and my students told me that my face got really red.

Q: Why did you become a teacher?

A: I picked English because I love English, and I think that when you talk about books and literature it transitions well to talking about really important life questions. So, books are important, but understanding life and those types of things is what’s super important. I became a teacher because I just thought it’d be fun and interesting and challenging to work with teenagers every day. Because you guys are fun and interesting and challenging.

Just to be perfectly honest, when I was nineteen I made some changes in my life and started to decide: who did I want to be? Before that, I didn’t really have any kind of religious affiliation, but I met Jesus. Not to be cliché, but seriously!  And after that, so many things in my life made sense. People were like, “God has a plan for your life so just ask Him what that is.” And so I started doing that, and that’s when it really became clear that teaching was something that I could make a difference doing and that I thought would be fun and interesting.

Q: To what do you attribute your success as a teacher?

A: Great role models and mentors and just to God for giving me the ability to do what I do. I’ve had a lot of help along the way, a lot of really cool opportunities in Virginia Beach Schools. I feel very lucky to be here in Virginia Beach

Q: What would you say to future educators?

A: I would say definitely become a teacher. So I would say for those who think they want to be teachers, it is the most rewarding thing I can possibly think of doing with my life. It’s hard; it’s not an easy job. It takes a lot of time, but it’s so worth it and so rewarding. So, if you love kids, if you love teenagers, I would say go for it. . . . I can see on a daily basis that I’m impacting someone in a positive way, which a lot of people talk about. They want to make a difference with their life, and I think, for people who are considering education, that’s one of the absolute perks of the job.

Here is what our principal, Dr. James Avila, said about Mrs. Jenna Free’s award:

“In the world of teaching, to be honored by your peers and colleagues as the teacher who makes the most impact on student learning is an amazing accomplishment. It’s been a long time since a secondary teacher of a core subject has won this prestigious award. To have a Lion represent the school division amidst all of the incredible teachers in VBCPS speaks volumes of how incredible Mrs. Jenna Free is. Tallwood is so proud of her!”