The school staff in Big Sandy featured a lot of new faces for the 2022 school year. One new face is actually returning to us after several years away. Jessie Jaramillo, who is teaching art at the high school this year, taught in Big Sandy from 2016 to 2018. She moved back to Helena, where her family lives, and tried to land a teaching job in their school districts. She has been substitute teaching for the last few years, before returning to our little community. Jessie is very close with her family, particularly her brothers, which prompted the return home for work.
"It's this new exciting thing, because I knew partly what I was coming back to. I had been subbing the past three years. For a teacher, it's often the worst parts of the job, because you feel like no classroom is yours and you don't get to see consistent students all the time. It's always something new. There's lots of flying by the seat of your pants and it wasn't making me as happy as I was up here," Jessie explained when I asked about her reason for returning to Big Sandy. "I loved teaching up here. The classes were great, students were great, the community is great. So coming back to it, I knew that I was coming back to that. I just had all these ideas that I had been waiting to use for these past few years. I came back with a new excitement for teaching."
Jessie explained that her personality has always leaned in the direction of teaching. "My mom tells me stories of when we were kids and I would always try to do things for my brother or speak for him or just be helpful in a lot of ways. So, from a really young age, I've always wanted to help people. From young as I can remember, like middle school, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I've always felt really lucky that I knew that this is what I wanted to do, because I love kids and love teaching and love that the job is always changing."
When I asked about what she does for enjoyment, Jessie explained that most of her focus and enjoyment revolves around teaching at this point. "I've just kind of thrown myself into all of this again, because it's what I have been missing most in my life. I feel like being in the school, doing projects designed for kids, and trying to get examples ready for them has been a way for me to get back into art. Also to get excited about what we're doing in class. Mainly I've been doing a lot of school stuff. I'm trying to find a healthy balance between that, because I don't want to get burnt out. I just missed it so much that I want to spend all of this time doing all of the things that I feel like I've been missing. But outside of school, I love to read. I also love anything in nature. I'm big into hiking and camping and anything outdoors." She is excited for the upcoming hunting season. Jessie enjoys reading mystery novels, though true crime books hold a great deal of appeal for her due to their real life elements. She also reads a great deal about what makes people happy and how to improve your experience of life. She struggled to identify a favorite book, but said "the Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz is one that made a large impact on her life.
Jessie's artistic tendency leans more toward sculpting and ceramics, though she does draw and do other types of art. "And so when I took this ceramics class, it was like this whole new world had been opened up to me. I just..I couldn't get enough. I started taking all the clay classes. I worked with a local artist for a couple years, and then as soon as I got to college, it was like every art class that I could take." She now does a lot of sculpting with found objects and "upcycling" items as art. Her favorite artist is Salvador Dali, whose surrealist style inspires much of her sculpting work.
Jessie's passion for teaching and love of students was evident throughout our conversation. She spoke at length about ideas for working with kids, inspiring them, and helping them grow. Big Sandy High School's art classes are lucky to have her in front of the classroom.
