Walking into Larson Middle School one morning in June, Jessica Fields is mobbed by a swarm of children.
The students at the summer Kids’ Club are used to seeing her at Stevenson Elementary, not the middle school, and are fascinated by seeing a familiar educator in the middle of the summer.
“For about 20 minutes I’m hugging, I’m asking them what they have been up to this summer,” she says.
She previously ran into an older familiar face the week before at Fleet Feet running store.
“I needed new running shoes,” she says. “So this gentleman is helping me, and he’s literally putting the shoe on and he’s like, ‘Mrs. Fields?’ He had me as a sixth-grader.”
That’s her favorite part of her job: knowing she positively impacts others, whether it’s through an interaction that happened a couple of months ago or several years ago.
A special role
Fields is in her fifth year as Grandview Heights Schools’ 21st Century Learning Coach, with almost 20 years under her belt as an educator.
As a 21st Century Learning Coach, she’s the glue that connects learning at all levels, collaborating closely with administrators and teachers. The district created the position to promote academic progress in the district.
She works with kindergarteners all the way up to adults, sometimes even outside of the school. The role presents a unique challenge — and she seems to be a perfect fit to tackle it.
“I can't tell you how excited I am to be at Grandview. There is such a community,” she says. “I'm in year five and I feel like I'm just getting started here.”
Her day-to-day tasks include instructing both teachers and students. Some days she’s in her office formulating class materials, while other days she’s in classrooms observing teaching delivery. Sometimes she’s at the front of the room, modeling a new strategy for teachers or walking students through a uniquely structured lesson.
She even gets out into the community and discusses industry landscapes with local businesses to learn what they look for in job candidates.
The road to Grandview
Fields is the only one in her particular role with GHS and she might not be in the role either — or even in central Ohio — if it weren’t for one unlikely phone call.
As a student teacher, while studying at Wright State University, Fields was assigned to a room with asbestos, so she bounced around other teachers’ rooms to get her required instruction hours in while they took their breaks.
Lacking a home base put a strain on her early real-world working experience, but it paid off when she borrowed a room and taught while the teacher ate lunch.
That teacher called her sister-in-law at Olentangy Liberty High School in Powell, saying she liked Fields and that she should interview her for its teaching opening.
“Liberty High School in Olentangy, I got a call and they’re like, ‘Hey, would you like to come in for an interview?” Fields says. “I was like, ‘Did I apply for Liberty? I don't even know where Liberty High School is.”
The next year, Liberty gained a new English teacher in Fields, who advised the student council and was involved with the speech and debate team.
Fields moved to the area and began studying at The Ohio State University, earning her educational administration degree and becoming an assistant principal at a middle school in the Olentangy Local school district.
She transitioned to Olentangy’s instructional technology supervisor role after a few years to better suit her life as a mother.
Then, a friend told her Grandview Heights was hiring. After 14 years with Olentangy Local School District, she wasn’t eager to leave but Grandview Heights was closer to home and Fields decided to give it a shot.
It was a fit from the start, meeting Fields’ professional and personal preferences.
“What is so special about Grandview, too, is they really help you focus on work-life balance. It's nice to show up to work and know that you're also fulfilling your duties as a mother,” she says. “I'm bringing my full energy to their table as well as my table.”
The joys of learning
Fields’ job may change as she teaches for an evolving world, but she continues to look out for her students and fellow educators.
She moves through all classrooms weekly to co-teach an exercise in future readiness, which can touch on soft skills, including communication, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and personality habits, or more concrete technological skills as she aims to familiarize students with technology and boost their media literacy.
She says when students are surveyed on which parts of school bring them the most joy, many respond with answers about projects she worked on.
At younger ages, her lessons focus on questions like: “What would happen if honey bees disappeared from the Earth?” Kids then get half an hour to tap into the resources at their disposal and come up with an answer.
This year’s second-graders were tasked with developing a car of the future. Fields brought in DriveOhio, the state’s agency on transportation advancement, to help talk kids through the process. Then, students presented their designs.
“I always tell them it's not about answering the question, it's about the process of getting there,” Fields says.
When working with teachers she spends three days at a time doing what is called coaching cycles. She meets with new teachers to discuss the focus of the cycle — for example, working with a new piece of technology — and then observes their teaching style. The next day, Fields teaches while the new instructor watches. On day three, the teacher takes the reigns and debriefs with Fields to ensure goals are being actively pursued.
“This is how I introduce myself now: my job is to prepare students for whatever that future is when they leave the doors of Grandview,” Fields says. “That is a moving mark all the time.”
Jake Ruffer is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
