Jared Hennen

Early Childhood Specialist
Chicago, Illinois

Jared Hennen didn’t begin his teaching career working with young children, but he soon discovered that early childhood education can be an excellent vehicle for positive change. After budget cuts eliminated his middle school Spanish program, he transitioned to teaching kindergarten. He had much to learn, but he saw that his linguistic skills gave him a strong foundation for teaching kindergartners reading and writing.

From the beginning of the school year, he was struck by the differences in the kindergartners’ knowledge and skills—and by the difficulty of helping those who did not go to pre-K catch up. Finding that there were not enough local pre-K programs to meet demand, Jared set out to create the first preschool program in his school community. Jared spoke with his school’s principal and other leaders in the district and worked with organizations—including NAEYC—to understand the many different regulations the preschool would have to follow. He also observed pre-K teachers and researched theories on child development to create the program’s curriculum. “It didn’t come without its bumps, but we persevered because we knew how important it was.”

Jared had three main goals for the new program. First, he wanted children to learn through play. “High-quality interaction between staff members and children can set up the foundation for teaching students how to learn and sets an example for the rest of the school of what early childhood should look like. It shouldn’t look like second grade.”

His second goal was to have inclusive classrooms. “Students of various abilities can all learn from each other.”

The third goal was to intentionally use snack and meal times to foster community. “Nothing brings people together better than food. There’s. . . bonding that you don’t get from any other type of activity.”

Creating a program and writing its curriculum are daunting, but through his transition from middle school to kindergarten to pre-K, Jared identifies two constants that apply when teaching any age group: being a caring teacher and setting clear expectations for students. For the former, Jared is adamant that children need to see that “regardless of where [they] come from, they matter and they belong in [the classroom].” And for the latter, Jared believes setting clear expectations goes hand in hand with creating a community. “You’re not the commander of the classroom—you’re the facilitator of learning, and it’s something you need to do with [the children] rather than for them.”

Now working as an early childhood specialist in Chicago, Jared trains teachers on reading and pre-reading strategies; he also provides instructional supports and resources for teachers of young children. This school year, he is focusing on new pre-K teachers and elementary school principals. “Being new in preschool education can feel isolating, as so many other teaching professionals don’t have an understanding of the preschool classroom,” Jared says. “It’s hard to grow and improve as an early childhood teacher when there’s no one to turn to for support.”

Providing support to others has been the heart of Jared’s career, as a teacher and as a professional development provider. “I found the area that mattered to me the most: a place where I could create positive change. It drove me to be more passionate about education than I ever would have been had I stayed in middle school foreign language.”