Jenna Janello walks into her classroom each morning and is greeted by sixteen eager faces, each one ready to take another small step in their school journey. As Benton’s newest kindergarten teacher, Jenna says she feels lucky to have the opportunity to help these young learners build their educational foundations.

Jenna’s journey to teaching wasn’t a straight line. A 2021 graduate of Christopher High School, she initially moved to Carbondale to study nursing at Southern Illinois University. Nursing seemed like a stable career path, but within weeks she realized it wasn’t for her. Around the same time, her social media feed began filling with stories and posts from teachers. “It felt like a sign,” she said. Her heart had always leaned toward education, especially after spending her high school years teaching gymnastics to preschoolers at her grandmother’s gym, All Star Gym in Christopher. Those afternoons coaching three-to-five-year-olds were often the brightest part of her week, and the joy she felt there stayed with her.

Five weeks into the nursing program, Jenna made the leap into early childhood education. She never looked back. At SIU, she thrived in classrooms ranging from toddlers to second graders. Her early placements included time at the Child Development Lab on campus, followed by semesters at Unity Point in kindergarten, Pinckneyville in second grade, and a full year at Trico Elementary in first grade. Each experience shaped her skills and gave her mentors she still remembers with gratitude. “I’ve had some really great influences during my time,” Jenna reflected, naming teachers like Lynette Beaupre, Michelle Gremmels, and Dawn Farris as role models who showed her the creativity and patience required to succeed in the profession.

Today, just a few weeks into her teaching career, she feels at home in her classroom. “They’re just fun and little and so excited to see me every day,” she said, smiling. “My favorite part is watching their growth. Some of them came in not knowing a single letter, and now they’re up to nine or ten. Others are nearly mastering the whole alphabet. It’s so exciting to see the progress.”

The goals in kindergarten are ambitious. Students are expected to recognize all their letters by year’s end, learn sight words, begin decoding simple words like cat and bat, and even write full sentences. In Jenna’s room, they are already learning about nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Writing begins with short guided phrases like “I see a frog,” and builds toward complete thoughts with proper capitalization and punctuation. Numbers also play a daily role, with a long-term target of counting to 100. It’s a lot for five-year-olds, but Jenna delights in their determination.

Social and emotional learning is just as important in her classroom. Each day includes a video lesson with a puppet named Burford T. Bouquet, who models situations and conversations about emotions, kindness, and goals. “They love it,” Jenna said. “And it gives me language I can use when things come up—like reminding them that hands are for helping, not hurting.” The lessons create a common foundation for building friendships and resolving conflicts, and Jenna has already seen the impact in her students’ interactions.

She also appreciates the support she has received as a first-year teacher. From fellow kindergarten teachers who welcomed her with encouragement to administrators who regularly stop by her classroom, she feels like she is part of a strong team. “They’ve had my back in everything I’ve done,” she said. “I feel very supported.”

Jenna’s personal life is also full of new beginnings. Engaged to Aiden Newcomb, an MRI technician at Herrin Hospital, she is planning a summer wedding after her first year of teaching wraps up. The couple recently renovated a house in Du Quoin but are already looking ahead to eventually building or buying closer to Benton. “We’re hoping not to have that forty-minute drive much longer,” she said with a laugh.

As she looks to the future, Jenna imagines a simple but fulfilling life—continuing in kindergarten, raising a family of her own, and building roots in the Benton community. “I want my students to come to school every day excited to learn and to feel safe with me,” she said. “I want strong relationships with them and a classroom where we all respect and care for one another.”