My name is Jenny Brown and I am the recipient of the 2021 Core Value Award for Doing Your Best. This is my fourth year at DSST and the Ranch (Go Raptors!), and my 11th year in education.

I am currently serving as the school director of DSST: GVR High School, but have worked as a sixth and eighth-grade Science teacher, ELD Teacher, Instructional Coach, and Associate School Director. I was humbled to receive the Core Value award last year, and it has motivated me each day – no matter the circumstance – to remember that DYB is elemental to what we want for our students. Modeling this feels more crucial than ever, and I am honored to work with a staff and student community who embody the importance of this value. 

There are so many moments I can recall in the last year where I certainly didn’t feel like my best was good enough. There is at least a moment every day when I wonder if my best is good enough for our school or our students. An incredible mentor of mine, who still works in our amazing network, is famous for quoting Brené Brown and reminds others, “Do not let perfect be the enemy of good.” When I first heard this mantra, I recoiled a bit. After all, shouldn’t we hold ourselves to the highest standards to ensure our students have every opportunity to succeed?

As educators, we are programmed to want to know how we’re doing and how our students are doing. What was the average on that assessment? What does the mastery check show that my students learned today? Did anyone even grasp the concept of that lesson? No one responded to answer my checks for understanding, does anyone comprehend what I’m saying? This constant need for feedback is essential to helping us ensure that our work is landing with students. It is also part of what makes this work so insatiable. Even some of our highest achieving educators don’t stop at a 92% assessment average; instead, they are immediately seeking to understand what the gap was for those who didn’t show full mastery. We, therefore, get caught in that cycle of always wanting to try it again, do it a little better, and aim even higher for the next unit, the next trimester, or the next school year.

I love seeing this energy in our incredible staff members and inspiring students. And yet, there is immense value in returning to the fact that DYB is a value that simply expects effort – DYB does not expect perfection. We make much more progress and gain when we aren’t afraid to take risks, not get it right, and value the process over a perfect product. This isn’t something we always transparently admit to our students, but thank goodness they remain creative and motivated even when they don’t roll up a trimester report card of all As.

Code2College is an organization that works hard to ensure that students gain exposure to coding in ways that set them up to break down barriers as they seek out opportunities in college and their careers. It creates an outlet for students to be creative, to try new skills, and to also ensure that no identity or demographic marker impedes their ability to enter the Computer Science field. It ensures that students don’t need to have perfect resumes or experiences to access these fields. Instead, they are exposed to opportunities to give them robust options when they may not otherwise exist. They currently support a few students here at DSST: GVR HS and we hope to only see more of our students take advantage of this partnership in the future.

I am grateful to be able to allocate this donation that will support work to increase opportunities for our students. They deserve every opportunity imaginable, not because they are perfect, but because they do their best and are worthy of options and lives full of possibility.