Southern Lehigh Spanish teacher Sra. Jennifer Jaen, otherwise know as “La Bomba,” has returned to the high school after a year-long sabbatical.
During her absence, Sra. Jaen missed not only teaching in her classroom, but also school-organized events and seeing her students every day.
“I really missed speaking Spanish with students and teaching them about culture,” Sra. Jaen said, “but I did not miss waking up really, really super early, at five o’clock in the morning.”
“I’m happy to see her back,” Spanish teacher Sra. Joan Imms-Geiser said. “In a perfect world, I would have loved to have both Sra. Jaen and Srta. McDermott.”
Srta. Megan McDermott was Sra. Jaen’s substitute for all of last year.
“Having Srta. McDermott gave a new perspective and made us re-evaluate what we do and why,” Sra. Imms said.
“I was so glad to see Sra. Jaen back,” senior Hannah Salamon said. “She’s definitely one of my favorite teachers.”
In her year off, Sra. Jaen enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with her children, husband, and dogs. She also reconnected with friends from other countries, such as Ecuador, that she met through college and travel.
Last time Sra. Jaen was here, we were still accustomed to the old class schedule of eight periods per day. She plans to take great advantage of this new block schedule by including more cultural activities, music, technology, and games such as Spoons and Pictionary, all in Spanish, of course.
“I don’t want to just be talking by myself,” Sra. Jaen said. “There is so much more that we can do in class!”
Sra. Jaen teaches Spanish I, II, and III. She lived in Ecuador for four years and speaks Spanish at home with her family.
