Kelloggsville — David Jimenez’s path to education was not the typical journey.
He earned a bachelor’s in business in 2001 from Western Michigan University and started working at Muskegon’s Baker College, eventually in career services where he taught soon-to-be graduates the job search process.
“So that was my first taste of being in front of a room and actually teaching,” Jimenz said. “I had never really thought about it prior to that.”
It would be some years later — after a move to Rockford, being a stay-at-home dad, opening Title Boxing Club Grand Rapids and selling the business during the pandemic — that a notice from Rockford Public Schools about the need for substitute teachers would again spark that interest in teaching.
“(B)eing at the school every day, I really got to know the kids, the other teachers, everybody was great, supportive, and then the principal (at the building where Jimenez was working) really was the encouragement of ‘Have you ever thought about actually becoming a teacher?’” he said.
After a discussion with his family, Jimenez began researching how he could earn a teaching certificate and discovered the Michigan Alternative Route to Certification at the University of Michigan, a three-year program that helps those with a bachelor’s degree become certified teachers while teaching.
‘The most amazing thing, I think, is I learn as much from them as they learn from me.’
— David Jimenez, Kelloggsville High School AP Seminar teacher
Jimenez is now in his second year of teaching at Kelloggsville High School, a place where he feels right at home.
“Somebody that I know who has a connection here was like ‘It’s just like Muskegon, when we were there. You’ll connect with the kids, because it’s how we grew up,’” he said.
It turned out his friend was right. Jimenez loves the diversity of Kelloggsville and appreciates the support he has received from other teachers and administrators.
What is the thing that gets you up in the morning and excited about teaching? “The community where I grew up (Muskegon) is a very similar demographic to (Kelloggsville), and so I feel like somebody that kind of made it through a situation where when I was young I never thought I would go to college. My family didn’t have a background in it and it was kind of like, I’m probably just going to go out and get a job after high school or join the military or something. So I feel like what keeps me motivated is I can relate to a lot of these kids and it’s my way of trying to give back and hopefully inspire somebody. Because it took me a while to get the inspiration and to get the confidence that ‘Yeah, I can do this too.’ If I can catch somebody earlier than me, I feel like I did some good in the world.”
What are some of the biggest challenges and how do you strive to meet them? “The biggest challenges are the things that you would have learned had you gone through an education program and had student teaching.” Jimenez said he has overcome such challenges as lesson planning by using technology, such as ChatGPT, talking to and asking questions of his fellow teachers and connecting with his U-M classmates.
What’s the most amazing thing about teaching high school students? “I learn as much from them as they learn from me. As much as technology and things have changed and life has changed, there’s some things that don’t change, such as peer pressure, and you can relate as they are at the age where they’re starting to have relationships. I made my best friends when I was about in 10th grade.”
What was your learning curve? “College was the most recent for me, and I actually do enjoy a lecture hall and hearing somebody talk for 60 minutes and just taking notes, but that doesn’t work with 15-year-olds. Everything’s too fast-paced nowadays. I think I made that mistake early on with starting out where I can lecture and kids will sit there and take notes. I learned really quickly from them that it’s got to be something that keeps them interactive and involved and hands-on.”
What would you say to someone considering teaching as a profession? Jimenez said that being a substitute teacher for a year was helpful in that it gave him real-world experience by being in the classroom. That helped him determine if he liked teaching by seeing the ups and downs, what subject he enjoyed and the age level he enjoyed working with. “The other part of that is to think about why you’re doing it. For me, it’s the ability to give back to students. … When you see somebody go, they figure it out, and the lights come on, and they’re like, ‘Oh, now I get it.’ That’s a great feeling. So if you’re doing it for that reason, I think you’re in good shape.”
What do you like about teaching English? Jimenez, who calls himself a creative type and loves to read, admitted he thought he would be teaching more literature, but has discovered that the AP Seminar is a good fit for him. “Having ended up in an AP Seminar, which I do look at as more of a business class, to me, it matches really well. It’s a good combination of my business background and my interest in English and communication skills and language arts. I feel like they really came together for this class.”
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