Nadine Jeppson – South Jordan Elementary School

I believe Nadine Jeppson is truly a dedicated and enthusiastic year round teacher, at South Jordan Elementary School, in South Jordan, UT. I think the most important thing you can give to children is to let them know they are loved and that they can accomplish whatever they believe they can. Mrs. Jeppson helps them to know these two important aspects of their lives. And, because of that she is an extraordinary teacher because she is making an enormous difference in the lives of her students by how they see themselves. It is easy to see how much she cares about each of her students because of the amount of individual attention she gives to each and every one of them. And, she creates an atmosphere where each child can feel they are loved, smart, and capable of being whatever they want. They feel her love, and they trust her, which makes them want to excel and do their best.

Mrs. Jeppson, also directs them to recognize ways needed to function in life, by learning to read, and she has helped guide and inspire her students by incorporating different songs, games, activities, and other methods for the children to learn how to read, work and play well together. She uses games to make it fun for them, and she makes a major emphasis on reading. Her desire is to have the entire class reading by the end of the year, and she has supported her students to accomplish this goal every year. She went out of her way to make a special place in her class room just for reading where the students can go, pick a book, sit comfortably, and read. This has had wonderful results because of being able to quietly sit and read, her students have, also, developed, not only the ability to read, but a love to read. Mrs. Jeppson has a tremendous love of reading herself, and she reads to the students as well as listens to them read, also. If they don’t know how to pronounce a word, she sits tirelessly as they sound it out, and learn it. She is very patient and tells her students to always keep trying.

Besides her reading corner, she has made many other exciting learning activities for the students. She has a math manipulative activity, where they learn addition, subtraction, patterns, computers, art places for learning to be creative. They learn rhyming, word family, sorting, and numerous other projects. The time she spends teaching is quality time and she is continually reaching out to her students every day. She helps them to keep learning and setting goals, and tells them they can do it, letting them know she believes in them. She has taught them to work together and support each other. She has been a remarkable example to all and a truly devoted teacher to her students, and I would like to nominate her for the KSL teacher feature.

–Bonnie Greenwood