LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Jennifer Robson was nominated anonymously. 

Ms. Robson believes that a positive classroom environment begins with caring, loving relationships. Before children can fully engage in learning, they need to know they are safe, valued, and deeply loved. When students know they are loved, they love to learn.

Each morning, Ms. Robson intentionally greets every child with a smile, hug, or high-five because she wants them to know they belong the moment they walk through my door. She makes it a priority to learn about their lives outside of school, celebrate their accomplishments, and ask about the people and activities that are important to them. Every day, she speaks life into her students by reminding them that they are smart, kind, creative, capable, and uniquely gifted. These daily interactions build trust, confidence, and a sense of belonging while modeling the kindness and encouragement she expects them to show one another.

Ms. Robson's classroom culture is built on joy, choice, and meaningful engagement. Mornings are filled with hands-on STEM challenges, creative art experiences, cooperative learning, and purposeful play that develops both academic skills and meaningful relationships. Students are given opportunities to make choices, solve problems together, and celebrate one another's successes. Social-emotional learning is woven into everything the students do. They focus on making positive choices, practicing empathy, and role-playing real-life situations so they can learn and rehearse appropriate behaviors in a safe, supportive environment.

Rather than simply telling children what is expected, Ms. Robson gives them opportunities to practice those expectations and experience the positive impact they have on their classroom community. By design, her classroom is not always quiet or perfectly orderly. It is filled with purposeful conversation, laughter, movement, and discovery.

Ms. Robson honors the developmental needs of five- and six-year-olds by creating an environment where active learning is celebrated, and every child feels seen, heard, and valued. When children feel loved, respected, and empowered, they become confident learners who are willing to take risks, persevere through challenges, and extend that same kindness to others. That is the foundation of the positive classroom community she strives to build every day.

Ms. Robson's greatest classroom need is a wide variety of high-quality, hands-on learning materials that enable every child to actively participate in the learning process. Kindergarten students are not meant to spend their days sitting still and simply listening. They learn by doing. They need opportunities to see, hear, touch, move, build, manipulate, create, and explore. Most importantly, they need to experience the joy of learning. 

One of her favorite moments as a teacher is watching a child excitedly exclaim, "Can we play this again?" without realizing they are practicing essential literacy or math skills. While they think they are simply playing a game, they are becoming readers, mathematicians, scientists, engineers, and creative problem-solvers. Purposeful play transforms abstract concepts into meaningful experiences that children can understand, remember, and apply.

Her instructional approach follows the gradual release model: "I do, We do, You do." She begins by explicitly teaching a new concept, helping students understand what they are learning and why it matters. Next, she models the skill using engaging, hands-on materials that capture their curiosity and make learning meaningful. Then, she and her students practice together, giving the confidence and support students need before they begin applying the concept independently or collaboratively with classmates. For this model to be truly effective, every child needs access to quality games, manipulatives, and learning tools. When there are enough materials for the entire class, every student remains actively engaged rather than waiting for a turn or observing from the sidelines. This active participation is where the deepest learning occurs. Children gain confidence because they are experiencing success with their own hands, minds, and voices.

Many of these materials continue to serve her classroom long after the initial lesson. Once students have learned how to use them, they become part of the daily morning choice centers, where children revisit concepts independently. During these moments, Ms. Robson often witnesses the most meaningful growth. Students naturally revisit challenging skills, teach one another, invent new ways to use the materials, and deepen their understanding through repeated exploration. Learning becomes authentic because they choose to engage with it. Equally important are open-ended materials that invite exploration without predetermined outcomes. Not every learning experience begins with direct instruction.

Some of the richest moments happen when children are given the freedom to wonder, experiment, design, test ideas, and solve problems together. These experiences foster creativity, resilience, collaboration, and critical thinking skills that will serve them well beyond kindergarten. As Ms. Frizzle wisely encouraged, "Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy." Those words perfectly capture the spirit of Ms. Robson's classroom, where curiosity is celebrated and mistakes are viewed as opportunities to grow.