ROSEVILLE, California — Jerusha Cecil knows what it’s like to be a struggling student. It’s the reason she got into teaching, and it’s that perspective that makes her a great teacher and ABC10’s Teacher of the Month for June.
"There were a handful of teachers that made a difference for me, so I wanted to do the same,” Cecil told ABC10. Cecil is an 8th grade science, history and a medical detectives teacher at Creekview Ranch School in Roseville.
Whether Cecil is teaching science or history or even her medical detective class - she's always thinking outside of the classroom. But how do you make science — or even history — something kids want to learn?
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Zach, one of Cecil’s students, said she’s good at making things relatable for the class. "If there's stuff we don't understand, she'll put it in a way that we understand easily."
Another student said Cecil let’s the classroom experiment and learn first-hand, rather than just teaching by the book. It’s one of those skills that teachers have that students love. Plus, she’s also like “motherly figure” to many of her students.
"I want to give them the foundation that they can go to college if they want to go to college, or they can go to trade school if they choose that,” Cecil said. “The opportunities are endless. You may not see academically real growth that year, but the confidence, if that confidence could be instilled and come first, I know that later on they'll figure out the other parts."
To learn more about Teacher of the Month, click here.