“I think that student teaching has shown me that students can be held to high expectations, like some of you [students] here back me out of the water when I first came, I was like ‘wow, they really care and they really apply themselves,’ and I’ve found that if you care about the students, they will give you care back,” said Sneed.
Jessianne Carter-Sneed is one of MBHS’s four student teachers this school year, as she is on track to complete her teaching credential at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, after receiving her undergraduate degree in history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Working alongside government and ASB teacher, Mrs. Van Zee, and economics and U.S. history teacher, Mr. Engel, Sneed feels right at home at MBHS.
Sneed grew up not too far from Morro Bay, in the small town with a population of just 665 people, Santa Margarita, while attending Atascadero High School. “I grew up riding horses, I did 4H, and we would play horseshoe tournaments at lunch; a very country-fied way of going to school,” said Sneed.
Aside from school, Sneed was heavily involved during high school in all things dance, as she was in the Civic Ballet in San Luis Obispo for 10 years. “I always loved it [dance], maybe it was the creative aspect of it, and the Nutcracker was my favorite thing ever. I just loved performing,” said Sneed. Alongside dancing at the Ballet, Sneed was also the cheerleading and stunt captain in her senior year at AHS. “My coach was just so awesome. She uplifted you and recognized you, and the hard work you put in, which always felt really nice,” said Sneed. But in this small area of her life, she wanted to create something bigger: teaching the next generation.
As Sneed got to college, she started as a psychology and brain sciences major, but majoring in history had always lingered in the back of her mind. “I wanted to go into history to begin with, but everyone was like, ‘You’re not going to make any money,’ so I listened to the haters, which you shouldn’t do; any advice – do what you want to do, follow your heart,” said Sneed, and that she did. After Sneed realized that her previous major might not be the right one for her, she switched to history, with a minor in educational studies.
While at UCSB, Sneed found herself in numerous leadership roles within Gamma Phi Beta, a sorority that focuses on sisterhood and personal growth. “I was the Education vice president, the Recruitment Chair, the Secretary, and in a bunch of committees, so I was really, really in it…. my life was Gamma Phi Beta,” said Sneed.
With Sneed now studying at Cal Poly SLO, it truly was in her blood this whole time; literally. “My mom went there, my grandma worked there for 32 years, my godmother worked there for 30 years, my aunt works there right now.” At first, Sneed didn’t want to go to Cal Poly SLO, but she recalls when she was applying to colleges, “I wanted to move away from home, not super far away, but far enough away where I could become like my own person,” said Sneed, “and I feel like college [UCSB] really allowed me to do that. I am such a different person than when I was a senior in high school, and I’m way more confident in myself, and I think it’s because I moved away and became my own person.”
Teaching was always a non-negotiable for Sneed, “I think I always wanted to be a teacher, like on the first day of kindergarten, I set my stuffed animals up and I liked talking to them because I just loved the thought of being a teacher since I was five,” said Sneed, recalling her childhood, “My mom ordered me all the play school supplies, and I would like to give awards to my students [the stuffed animals].” This moment for Sneed came full circle, seeming as though her mom watched her love for teaching blossom from such a young age, “I go home and I tell my mom stories,” said Sneed.
When Sneed loves something, it shines from within and reflects through her actions. “I want to teach history in a way that is fun and exciting for kids, so they get really passionate about it, and not just boring lectures. History can be so much fun if you make it fun,” said Sneed, who, if asked, seemed like she could have talked out her love for teaching and making an impact forever. Sneed’s own love for history originated in the book most middle schoolers were required to read, “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry. “I probably read it 10 times,” said Sneed, describing where her love of teaching stemmed from, which followed her to study it in college as well. “My thesis [at UCSB] was about two holocaust survivors who escaped from Auschwitz, and I got to tell their story, which wasn’t told when they were alive,” said Sneed, “I think it’s beautiful to rewrite history from the perspective of those who have been marginalized and discriminated against.”
Through her own passion for the subject, it comes out in wanting to understand the history behind her students and to truly know them. “To be a good teacher,” describes Van Zee, “you have to know students, and you have to like being around them. And she likes being around them genuinely, like she likes coming to extra things just to be around students. She doesn’t have to be at the dance; she was at the dance because she wanted to. She was at the football games, and she was there because she wanted to be,” said Van Zee. Sneed attended the homecoming dance in early October, manning the photobooth and kindling her connections with students.
When teaching in Van Zee’s class, nothing shines brighter than her good attitude. “There was a part of a lesson that she did in my class,” said Van Zee, “and it didn’t go very well, but that’s okay because she took that feedback and the next time she did it better, and that’s part of the learning process.” Student teaching as a whole can be very daunting to some, as the environment is so new and they are being put straight into the career, but Sneed takes on this challenge with ease. “Some student teachers haven’t been willing to go as far as she has in my experience. She has put herself out there, and she’s doing things faster because she’s so willing to try,” said Van Zee. “I’m so happy I’m here at Morro Bay,” said Sneed, “I genuinely don’t think I could have been played anywhere better. I’ve loved every single minute.”
“Just the community here is so awesome, and I come here and I’m happy all day, and I leave happy… You guys [students] make me happy and feel part of this community,” said Sneed.
Sneed will be student teaching till the end of the school year, and feels as though student teaching so far has only reinstated her love for it, and her assurance that this is the career for her.
