“You gotta have a thing, Mom. All good teachers have ‘a thing’ kids remember them by.”
This was the piece of advice Christina Jackson received from her youngest son, Garrett, just before her first day starting a brand new career, at a brand new school, in Prospect Ridge Academy back in the fall of 2011-12.
It was an astute observation for a seven-year-old to make. And a piece of advice Mrs. Jackson, a former microbiologist turned 14-year veteran as a Second and Fourth Grade teacher, would take to heart as she prepared for her second career as an educator.
“I didn’t really know what my ‘thing’ was, but I knew that the comic book character Garfield and I shared the same birthday; June 19,” Jackson said. “So, I had a poster in my classroom where I mentioned that Garfield was my favorite character and that’s all I had up my first year. But then, I think it was my third year, I came in one day and there was a little stuffed toy of Garfield with a Santa hat on my desk from Christopher Rueda. I kept it in my room and then one child after another started to bring things in.”
Mrs. Jackson’s Garfield collection now amasses more than 50 collectables accumulated over the past decade. Items ranging from plush toys to Garfield slippers; blankets, coffee mugs and custom water bottles; dozens of hand-drawn artworks, balloon animals and pictures from the Garfield movie she attended with former students. There’s even a piece of Garfield themed candy, safely preserved in a plastic bag, that made it all the way from Europe to her desk in Broomfield, Colorado.
The collection is a special and symbolic time capsule of Mrs. Jackson’s tenure at PRA. A tenure that will be celebrated, but also dearly missed, when it concludes this summer as Mrs. Jackson retires from PRA to begin the next chapter of her life.
Each individual piece of the Garfield collage is more than a homage to the beloved cartoon character that debuted in 1978. They signify a different memory and genuine connection with a student or family who stepped into Mrs. Jackson’s classroom.
“My son was right that kids want to have ‘a thing.’ It is a way to build that relationship. Kids love to come see if I still have the gift they gave me. Or they are thrilled to see I added the picture they drew me to the comic book,” Jackson said. “My son was right that I needed to have ‘a thing’ because it has connected me to families for 14 years.”
Ms. Jackson’s journey to becoming an educator was far from a straight line. With a decorated resume that includes degrees in Microbiology and Medical Technology, Jackson worked in the corporate world for 15 years assisting new start-up biotech companies in Boulder.
But with a young family of her own during the early 2000’s, she knew she was ready for a change from the uncertainty of the corporate world.
“That was an industry that saw a ton of layoffs. I had survived a couple layoffs, but it’s really hard to have a young family and constantly live with that turmoil,” Jackson said. “I had done some volunteering with Cub Scouts and Sunday School, and I have always loved kids. So, I started out as a substitute teacher at Peak to Peak in 2005.”
However, it would only take one day as a substitute teacher for Mrs. Jackson to realize that wasn’t going to be enough. She had found her new passion, her new purpose. But she needed a classroom of her own.
“Literally, on Day One, I was subbing in a Second Grade class and I immediately knew I wanted my own classroom. I quickly realized, as a sub, that I was never going to be able to have the same kind of relationships with the kids and families as a full-time teacher,” said Jackson, who was already hard at work earning her Master’s degree in Education at Colorado State University. “Because my previous degrees were in Science, I ended up needing to take two years of classes to even apply to the teaching program and before I could apply to the licensing program. While I was finishing with the teacher preparation program at CU Boulder, my own two older kids had gone through Fourth Grade at Peak to Peak and had April Wilkin as their teacher.”
Jackson and Wilkin, PRA’s first Principal and current Executive Director, would forge a relationship as Jackson served as a regular sub for Wilkin’s Fourth Grade class. And it was that relationship with Wilkin that would eventually lead to Jackson becoming a Miner in 2011 when she was hired as member of PRA’s original Second Grade team. A role she stayed in until switching to Fourth Grade ahead of the 2021-22 school year.
While the Core Knowledge curriculum may have changed, the attitude Mrs. Jackson brought to campus and her classroom did not. Being an effective teacher meant building relationships with her students and their families.
Mrs. Jackson made it a mission to show up for her students, and not just in the classroom. You’ll spot her at dance recitals, musicals, plays and sporting events cheering on Miners —former students turned young adults — who are following the passions they had discussed with Jackson as seven and eight-year-olds.
Perhaps no story better exemplifies Mrs. Jackson’s lasting impact than that of Nora Bruxvoort, a former PRA student and current sophomore at CU Boulder, who emailed Jackson this past winter break with a message that all educators dream to hear.
“She emailed me and said, ‘I picked my major because you encouraged my love for science in Second Grade and inspired me to go into Environmental Science,’” Jackson said, fighting back tears. “To have that kind of influence on someone is huge and it meant so much that she would take the time to email me. Teachers always wonder, ‘Do we make a difference?’ As a teacher, you don’t always know. We hope we do, and we assume we do. But to have kids comment back that you made a difference in their lives is very meaningful.”
It is those kinds of relationships with her current and former students, their families, and her PRA co-workers that Mrs. Jackson said will continue, even after she leaves the classroom at the end of the spring semester.
Mrs. Jackson still plans on being available as a tutor and an active member of the PRA community. And who knows, there may even be a few Garfield references and “Easter eggs” hidden around campus. A reminder to all former, current and future Miners that Mrs. Jackson is still very much woven into the fabric of PRA.
After all, creating lasting memories and relationships is “her thing.”
