Jennifer Sitkin inspires students
Jennifer Sitkin’s decision to become a history teacher was rooted in the class she took in senior year of high school. She loved how the simulations turned passive learning into active learning. In fact, one of the simulations she’s done is one where everyone in the class were senators writing bills. After that, her next step was majoring in political science. Now, she’s been teaching at CVHS for more than 30 years. She’s an avid problem solver in the social studies department.
Sitkin loves rowing. She used to be a Division One player in Wisconsin and she and her team had made second in nationals.
Sitkin is a person very into athletics in general; she still keeps active to this day with weights, runs, pickleball, and tennis, which she started at five years old. Her favorite tennis player to this day is still Serena Williams, but she also likes Carlos Alcaraz. She has run two half marathons before and believes exercising everyday is the key to happiness.
Sitkin gets loud in the stadium and is a diehard and original basketball fan as she even liked the Warriors before they got recognition. It’s said she knows more about basketball than our whole school although she says it’s ironic she’s bad at basketball. Despite it being her favorite sport to watch, rowing remains her number one to play.
One exciting moment for her was when she ran into NBA player Matt Barnes at the grocery store. People were crowding around him, but she was able to get a photo together. She was so surprised she was standing next to Barnes; she was cropped out of the picture and it was mostly just Barnes.
Sitkin is a loved person as teachers and students openly express affection towards her.
“She’s my favorite person, I’ve known her for 30 years working here. She promotes student success on this campus,” said U.S. government and psychology teacher Carmelina Frasca.
You can tell that Sitkin loves her job. When she tells you to have a good rest of the day, she means it; it genuinely feels like she wants her students to have a good day. When she tells you to have a good weekend, you’ll feel inspired to make it good.
“What keeps me positive is I like to look at the world around me as half full rather than half empty. Teenagers are growing and they will have faults, but I prefer to look at the good behaviors,” Sitkin said.
Her teaching style also shows her passion for teaching. She gives engaging lectures and she’s seldom at her desk. She understands the workload of her students and gives them a decent amount of homework. Sitkin teaches more than she gives us homework. Homework assigned helps students with practice and occasionally, they’ll learn about said history events through reading. It’s clear that she cares about her students’ learning.