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In only a few years, Jasmine Jowers has become one of the go-to teachers on her Slidell elementary school campus.

“Anytime anything needs to be done for the grade level, or they have questions about something in the curriculum, I’m the one they go to,” Jowers says. “Even beyond my grade level, any time they’re looking at the whole school, they come to me because they know that I have a leadership background.”

As a University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Master of Education in Curriculum & Instruction graduate, and current Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership student, they know she has the skills to guide curriculum, school improvement, and strategic planning.

Born to Teach

Educators are drawn to the classroom for a number of reasons. For Jowers, that new-book smell was the first attraction.

“I remember being so excited to get new school supplies,” she says, “and it had to be Crayola — everything had to be top-of-the-line.”

But Jowers’ inclination toward teaching — and leading — was evident from her first “job.”

“When I was 11 or 12, I would babysit all the time. I’d create a schedule of things I wanted to do with the little kids I was working with,” she says. “Any time I was helping my cousins with their homework or just teaching them anything, I was just excited that from talking to me or hanging out with me they learned something new.

“I just like being part of someone’s success, and I thought education was a great way to do that.”

Applying Theory to Practice

UL Lafayette’s M.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction, Instructional Specialist concentration, is offered 100% online in accelerated 8-week terms and gives graduates the opportunity to apply for an add-on endorsement from the Louisiana Department of Education.

The program provides a balance of theory and practice and was the first in the state to build instructional coaching coursework into its program.

Jowers says that hands-on collaboration was particularly useful because she hadn’t begun managing her own classroom yet.

“We were looking at classrooms, how they functioned, and making a plan of what we would do to further the conversation and figure out the holes in their lessons,” Jowers says. “You were really focusing on what that particular classroom needed, and what that particular teacher needed to push her students further.”

Jowers began teaching kindergarten during the final semester of her master’s program and says she’s been applying the knowledge she’s gained since day one.

“There was a (special education) class that talked about gifted and talented learners — exceptional learners — and that was a very useful class,” she says. “It talked about ways you can push those higher learners so they’re not being bored, and I use that now — I still have that textbook.”

Becoming an Ed.D.

In addition to her classroom duties, Jowers is also the lead teacher for her grade level, serves on the School Improvement Plan team, and is the Robotics Club sponsor.

Balancing those responsibilities along with school and family, she says, requires discipline.

“Even for family functions, I have to bring my computer because I have a lot of school work to do,” she says. “Every night I’m either doing work or school work for my classes. There’s not much time I can sit and relax. Even when I’m on vacation, I’m doing work.

“I know it has to be done; I have to work on something every day.”

Jowers’ dedication should pay off in 2021 when she’s hooded as Jasmine Jowers, Ed.D.

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