Jennifer Hohenstein’s preschool classroom is the epitome of inspiration with its bright windows, eccentric decorations and inviting atmosphere. It seems only fitting that an influential classroom houses such an influential cornerstone to the Crossroads community in northeast Calgary such as Hohenstein — better known as Miss Jenn to her students.
The Crossroads Community Preschool has been around for generations and Hohenstein has been a pillar of education and involvement at the school for 16 years. Hohenstein’s previous teaching experience had her working with teenagers and older children, but working with preschoolers was instinctual, even if it means that her approach has to change.
“I think as a teacher you have to be ever evolving. You cannot be stagnant. Otherwise you’re not going to do the best things for your students,” she says.
A path of passion
Despite being a parent, teaching is the talent Hohenstein believes comes to her easily. In fact, she says that since childhood, teaching was the “only profession” that she wanted to do.
“I love the idea of presenting information. They’re sponges just absorbing all of this information…and watching kids grow in their character. They give so much to me. I grow as a person. I learn from them every single day. So, I feel like I’m a better person by being around kids,” Hohenstein says.
After playing the teaching game for so long, Hohenstein understands that the rules change, and that she has to embrace the change with open arms for her students. One of the changes that hit the teaching industry hard was the COVID-19 pandemic where Hohenstein has been focusing on the repercussions that isolation on had on small children during the pandemic.
She says that a lot of children who went through the pandemic “have speech delays because of the mask that was over their mouths. Kids couldn’t see the formation of speech sounds. With socialization, they don’t know how to ask to play.”
Since COVID-19, to better serve her students as an educator, Hohenstein has taken courses, studied new curriculums and challenged her students to tap into their creativity and imagination in fresh new ways.
A close-knit bond
Coming from a place of love and passion, Hohenstein views the classroom as a home. For her, that means making close familial connections with students, parents and guardians.
These connections include one of her current students, Toby Twigden, and his mother, Ruth Twigden. Ruth and Toby are some of Hohenstein’s biggest supporters. Toby, a three-year-old , refers to Hohenstein as beautiful and sweet.
“I was running when I was playing soccer,” Toby says. “She [held] my hand. And then I didn’t wanna play soccer anymore, but I had to.”
With meaningful activities like exploring places in the world, going to the community centre gym and taking the classroom pet, a plush toy called Colin, Hohenstein keeps her students engaged and connected.
Both Toby and Ruth recognize the spark Hohenstein has and the positive impact it brings to the classroom and to the community.
“When you meet her for the first time, you just enjoy meeting with her because she’s just such a nice, pleasant person that it just feels easy when you’re engaging with her,” says Ruth Twigden.
It’s because of her tight knit community that Hohenstein has always felt comfortable sharing her personal life with her students and their families. In turn, they have always been ready to offer their support for her, in and out of the classroom.
Hohenstein attributes her success in the preschool to the involvement and dedication of her late husband, Trent. Following his passing, Hohenstein found ways to keep him close by.
“He’s got his bench out in the community garden. He’s got ashes in Forget-Me-Not Pond…he’s everywhere because that’s how he was,” Hohenstein says. “He’s a part of this preschool…honestly I feel like sometimes it’s my home, because I spend so much time here.”
Throughout the preschool and around the Crossroads community, Trent’s legacy lives on. He is simply everywhere Hohenstein goes. Hohenstein’s husband selflessly allowed her to pour her time into the preschool, and he understood better than anyone how much the preschool means to her.
Even for the parents like Ruth Twigden, who met Hohenstein after Trent’s passing, the love and support that the neighbourhood gives back is a testament to what Hohenstein has built.
“I’ve noticed that it’s brought up the grief for her,” Ruth says. “And I think what it really shows is that she’s so loved by the community.”
Love for the Northeast
It is this connection combined with her pride in hailing from northeast Calgary that forges Hohensteins approach to ensuring that her neighbourhood doesn’t continue to receive a “bad rep.”
“I just think we have such a great sense of community…I honestly, I would never go to any other quadrant. I feel so passionate about where I’m at,” Hohenstein says.
One of the things Hohenstein boasts so proudly about the Northeast is its diverse community and lifestyles.
“Play is universal. It doesn’t matter if you speak the same language or not. [Children] still can come together. It’s beautiful, actually. It’s unbelievable. And that’s how I feel, too. That people have embraced me, and hopefully I’ve embraced them,” she says.
After playing the teaching game for so long, Hohenstein understands that the rules change, and that she has to embrace the change with open arms for her students.
