What sets The Donoho School apart is our faculty. These individuals provide the living curriculum for Donoho students in and out of the classroom. Each week we will feature a member of the faculty and his or her story. We hope you will enjoy getting to know our faculty members throughout the school year and will stop by each week to read the latest Donoho Story!
Donoho Stories: Mrs. Jenny Stedham Noble, ‘04
What do you teach at The Donoho School?
I teach 7th grade English, 8th grade English, and 7th grade Humanities.
What do you love about The Donoho School?
I love the atmosphere here. All strive to be their best, and at the same time they accept and support one another. From the staff to the faculty and students, I haven’t yet met a single person who hasn’t been encouraging and kind to me. It’s an atmosphere that breeds success – you know that you can excel because the people around you believe it.
Why do you like teaching at The Donoho School? What motivated you to become a teacher at The Donoho School?
I have the unique opportunity to teach at the school I attended from kindergarten through twelfth grade. As a Donoho student, I knew that I was getting the best education possible. My parents told me how important it was to get a good education, but more importantly – they showed me. They made it very clear to my sister and me that our education was their number one priority. It is humbling to be on the other side of that – to get to be a part of Donoho students’ education. Their parents have entrusted a part of their education to me, and that’s not something I take lightly. It is both a challenge and an immense blessing. For an educator who is always striving to learn more, and be even better, Donoho is the ideal environment.
What is a unique experience, talent or interest that you bring to your classroom to help shape the learning experience of your students?
I have had the privilege of doing residential life work during the summer for several years with both Duke TIP (Talent Identification Program) and Johns Hopkins CTY (Center for Talented Youth). My summer job involves working with students outside of the classroom – planning and implementing exciting events for them when they’re not in class. I try to bring the same enthusiasm into my actual classroom during the school year, because learning doesn’t have to be dull or boring. I strive to be creative in the ways I teach various concepts, and if one way of trying to teach something doesn’t resonate with students, I try another.
What sets Donoho students apart from students in other schools?
Donoho students have a drive to excel not just inside the classroom, but outside of it as well. So many of my students are also athletes, musicians, and artists. I am continually amazed by their drive to exceed expectations and be great at everything they do.
The Donoho School tagline is “Discover the Difference.” How do you accomplish this in your role at Donoho?
A lot of English teachers teach students how to read for information, so that they can answer basic comprehension questions on a test. This in and of itself is not bad, but it’s not my end goal. At Donoho, the goal has always been to teach students to think critically. I’m not interested in students just knowing who wrote a short story, or answers to basic plot questions. I encourage them to think about the deeper meanings of each text that we read, to analyze it and apply it to their own lives.
What do you want your students to gain from having known you?
I want them to be critical thinkers. Reading lends itself to that – it’s not just a form of escapism; it can bring to light ideas and concepts that force us to think about big issues. What does it mean to be a person of integrity? What do you do when life seems to leave you few options? Characters struggle with these issues, and bring us along with them. I love to discuss these ideas with students, and get them to truly think about what they are reading. My ultimate goal is for my students to be filters, not sponges, for what they read.
Jenny Stedham Noble,’04, received her B.A. in English from Birmingham-Southern College and her M.A. in English from Jacksonville State University. For the past four summers, she has worked with gifted high schoolers from all over the country, both for Duke TIP and Johns Hopkins CTY. Most recently, she served as Dean of Residential Life for CTY’s summer program in Los Angeles, California, at Loyola Marymount University.
