Aaron Jongko has always challenged himself as a teacher: “how do I make learning happen and keep students fully engaged while they’re having fun?” Over the 10 years he’s been teaching, he thinks he’s found the secret sauce. “I’ve tried to always keep kids at ease because it makes learning happen more naturally.” Aaron has found this to be especially important given the project-based learning approach he uses for social studies. “I know that when students start this class they have a lot of anxiety on their faces because they know there are going to be a lot of projects. That alone is something that intimidates them. As they go through the school year, I see them start to do things more fluidly and confidently when I’m looking over their shoulders. I can see them reading a lot of text and summarizing without copying; when they are doing that independently then I know that they are learning.”

Mr. Jongko believes the most important thing his students can take away from his classroom is empathy for the human experience. “In American and European history we look at a lot of very difficult topics—slavery, the trail of tears, the Holocaust. I hope they come to see that different people have different experiences and that you need to learn from them. If they can learn that as a child, they are more likely to make decisions that will help a lot of people as they get older. These students have an opportunity to be really influential in the future.”

Also important are the critical research skills students develop which help them address questions that don’t have a right or wrong answer: “Was the Civil War worth the cost?” he asks them. Mr. Jongko is excited to watch as his students research, summarize information, and form their own conclusions. “I always see a huge amount of growth between the first research project and the last one in terms of their comfort, confidence, and how proud they are of their work.”

Mr. Jongko has a passion for social studies but it’s one that students don’t always share. “If you ask students what their favorite subject is, it’s rarely social studies,” he says. But he wanted to put this to the test. As part of a research project developed for Apple Education and one he presented at the annual conference for Apple Distinguished Schools (which GAC has been since 2010), Mr. Jongko worked for a year to address what affects motivation in an elementary social studies class. He conducted a pre-survey and then tailored the class to meet the students’ preferences. What he got was a more interesting and exciting experience for both him and his students. “The blended learning style has worked really well for this class as it gives students the chance to be independent. And this means greater learning outcomes for them.” In the three years that he’s taught fifth grade, Mr. Jongko has refined his curriculum, bringing together the best of online and traditional instruction. For example, students are able to take advantage of the video tutorials that Mr. Jongko creates as resources for them.  

Having spent time working in both public and private schools, Mr. Jongko finds that he can be more innovative in his classroom at a private school. “As a teacher, I get to be really responsive to students’ learning needs. If I am looking at a learning standard and think we need to add something to the curriculum, I can make it happen if I make a case for it and present a solution. There is no bureaucracy and red tape to go through. Teachers have the ability to be change-makers and ultimately the students benefit.”

Mr. Jongko has significant experience with curriculum development and has played an influential role at GAC as Lower School Social Studies Chair and PK-12 Instructional Lead Teacher. He was a finalist for the GAC Lower School Educator of the Year, and was the Athens Chamber of Commerce Educator of Excellence, Clarke County School District Teacher of the Year, Whitehead Road Elementary Teacher of the Year, and has been awarded the Foundation for Excellence Mae Whatley and Peach State Crystal Apple Awards. Among his secret talents is that he is a licensed pyrotechnician and a skilled carpenter. When he’s not perfecting his pyrotechnics or building something, you’ll find him thinking up yet another way to create even more meaningful experiences for the students in his classroom.

No matter how old you are, everyone remembers a student like Laura Markert. The student who sits in the front row of class, eager to soak up every bit of knowledge she can. The student who loves math. The student who enthusiastically puts forth 100% every day.

Still at the front of the classroom, now Laura Markert is a teacher, and her students call her Dr. Markert. She finished a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Mercer University and says, “I love learning. I’ve always wanted to get my doctorate.” As both a teacher and student, she is conscientious, hard-working, and determined. While Dr. Markert could have been successful in a myriad of careers, GAC is fortunate she chose education. A 6^th grade math teacher, Dr. Markert has been teaching at GAC for five years.

As you watch Dr. Markert teach, you begin to wonder how you might bottle her energy and sell it. She is highly engaged, focused, lively, communicative. She doesn’t miss a beat. She studies her students carefully, scanning the room for signs of understanding and critical thinking. This is her 11^th year of teaching, and she is fueled by the work and the pace. A classic extrovert who gets her energy from people and building relationships, she is kind of stumped when asked what she does for downtime.

As a high school student at Parkview High School, Dr. Markert got a cup of coffee from the teacher’s lounge for her algebra teacher every morning. She has fond memories of this ritual, remembering that it made her feel special. “When teachers are nice to me, it makes me feel special. I try to make my students feel that way,” she says. It is well-known that students are more engaged in the classroom when they have a meaningful relationship with their teachers. “As an undergraduate, I had a professor who would take me and others out with his family to dinner and dessert. We would discuss education and life. We built a strong relationship, and because of that relationship I became even more engaged in research and college,” she said.

Indeed, she has empathy and determination to serve all students. She tailors her instruction to reach even the most mathematically anxious students. Her classroom is dynamic, one where movement is encouraged and writing on the desks and windows is permitted. Her dissertation was “Writing to Learn in Math”, and her passion for creativity within the math classroom can be seen all over her walls.

She molds her instruction so that her students “own” the knowledge. They learn their own way of solving problems, and it’s not just the teacher passing down the step-by-step instructions. “I love math because it’s like a puzzle. There is more than one way to solve the problem. I want the kids to know that I want to hear about their way of tackling a problem. It’s not just about how I do it.”

Dr. Markert was raised in Lilburn, Georgia, and attended Berry College in Rome. She married her husband Dave, a GAC alum, in 2012. Hard work runs in the family, and Dr. Markert said her father in particular has always served as an example of life-long learning. Dr. Markert’s older sister is a Language Arts teacher, and Dr. Markert grew up helping her set up her classrooms and bulletin boards. So Dr. Markert’s career choice feels like home.

Middle School Academic Dean Lauren Hollier especially appreciates Dr. Markert: “Laura epitomizes the term dedication.  She works tirelessly before, during, and after school with her kids. She encourages, motivates, instills confidence, and loves her students. If one way doesn’t work, she tries another, and another. She is one of the most patient teachers I’ve ever met.”

While she has taught in several other school environments, Dr. Markert says, “I love the spiritual aspect of GAC. I love that we have the chance to pray. I like the way the kids love each other. The light really shines through here at GAC.”

Results from our recent annual Parent Survey reveal that the top reason why parents choose GAC is our high-quality teachers. Math teacher and Department Chair Terry Beasley is a prime example and a reminder of why investing in private Christian education is worthwhile. Fifty percent of his AP Calculus students earn a 5 on the AP exam. Were you to visit his class, this veteran teacher of 21 years might pull out a manila envelope full of notes from former students who discovered something truly remarkable while in his class: how limitless and capable they really were. He keeps these notes for sentimental reasons but also as a way to encourage his current students, especially when they read of students for whom math wasn’t “their thing” but who, as a result of Mr. Beasley’s teaching, were able to succeed at a high level.

One of the funniest questions Mr. Beasley has received about his teaching has come from his international students. They’ve asked him, in a deadpan and confused sort of way, “Mr. Beasley why do you make everything so fun?” Says Mr. Beasley, “It’s much different than anything they’ve experienced in their home country.” His response? “If I have to be here, I’m going to make math fun.” He goes on to explain: “But don’t misunderstand me though. My classes are hard. I’m going to keep the bar here (hold his hand up high), but I’m going to help you get there.” And for good reason. “If you’re just fun and not challenging, the kids don’t grow. If you’re challenging and not fun, the kids don’t enjoy it. If you’re both, kids realize that they can be good at something and that it doesn’t have to be boring. It can be something they look forward to, even if it’s not their favorite subject.

During the course of a school year, Mr. Beasley helps kids find a love for math, but there’s also character that gets built as well. Students become resilient as they work to uncover the “why” behind the work they are doing. And part of that means making mistakes along the way. Mr. Beasley (who thinks of himself as a mathematical coach) is there to help them get over “the fear of the fear” of messing up. “Our kids are so pressured into thinking that they must get A+. ‘I got that wrong. I'm gonna fail’ instead of, ‘I got that wrong. Let me figure out why’. Once you do that, the grade starts to reflect the knowledge.”

“Even if you don’t like calculus, I’m going to help you become a better student. Everything I teach the students about how to approach learning is universal. If you can figure out why or how you do the things you do, it makes preparing for any type of situation so much easier. If you have no idea why you’re making the decisions you’re making, you are going to struggle no matter the class. My philosophy is teaching students how to think.”

Mr. Beasley has a specialist degree in curriculum and instruction and he’s created an entire curriculum with a cumulative approach to pre-calculus and calculus that has paid dividends with his students. He has been selected as a STAR teacher twice and nominated for Teacher of the Year numerous times. But his biggest accomplishment in 21 years? Watching the transformation in his students, year after year, knowing they are becoming the best version of themselves.

Think back to when you were a student. Who was your favorite teacher? Was it the one who stood at the front of the classroom and read from their notes? Or maybe it was one who was passionate about their subject matter, making it apparent through their body language and tone and the way they related to the students? More than likely you loved the latter one. But being that teacher can be difficult, especially after years of being in the classroom with 30 students at a time (currently the cap in public schools is 33). That was Sarah Grant’s reality before she joined GAC as a second-grade teacher. “Saddened, I would ask myself at the end of the day, did I even interact with that one student? Did we even cross paths?” 

Sarah spent nearly 10 years teaching in the public school system before coming to GAC. Her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Georgia gave her the knowledge she needed, but the drive to be in the education field has always been there. She has taken every opportunity to teach, beginning as a pre-professional teacher at the end of her sophomore year in college and working her way up to a 4th and 5th-grade teacher in a public charter school in Decatur upon graduation. Learning didn’t stop for Sarah. She went on to earn master's and doctoral degrees from Mercer University, starting the program the day after she graduated with her bachelor’s. Because of her early exposure to the teaching field, she knew that she had found her calling and couldn’t wait to continue investing time and effort into becoming a better teacher.

Teaching has always been a puzzle that Sarah has tried to better understand. In her doctoral program at Mercer, she studied teacher longevity. The question she asked herself is, what motivates teachers to stay in the classroom for 10, 20, or 30 years? Statistics show that 60% of teachers leave the profession within the first five years. She hopes to uncover the secret for why they stay, but part of it she feels she understands just from being a teacher at GAC, where the teacher retention rate is much higher than in public schools. “All the teachers have very high efficacy at GAC. This is in part because they know they can make a difference. You can walk into every single teacher’s classroom and hear them praising or thanking a student. That is not something I had witnessed as a collective front elsewhere.”

Sarah is a “yes teacher”, making her the kind of teacher you wish you had. She is always willing to try new things, especially if it means her students can benefit. While the students might get the same mini-lesson in a math class one day, the lesson application will look a little different depending on which group the student is in. Because of the placement testing Sarah regularly conducts, she is able to tailor each activity, getting each student the exposure they need based on their strengths and weaknesses. “Testing and data are important, but they are just one measure. The mission of GAC gets at the whole child, not just test scores. That is so unique here.” Also unique is the way in which academic rigor and moral development are enmeshed. “One of the most meaningful aspects about teaching at GAC is watching the students apply the moral development skills we learn during Bible throughout the school day. You are able to see students working in their math center and collaborating with their peers and showing respect. That is equally important and as rewarding as seeing them grow academically.”

Sarah’s teaching range is remarkable, as she has worked with students who were at risk of not meeting state standards; special education students; gifted students in the International Baccalaureate program; and students in the lower and upper elementary grades. “I have loved all of the experiences I’ve been given. While I think the classroom is where I will make the most impact, a very long-term goal would be writing curricula and helping teachers write and implement curriculum to their advantage. Lots of teachers are given curriculum and they don’t know how to adapt it to meet their needs or their students' needs.” Sarah has extensive experience with curriculum integration and even has a Project WILD certification. This is a program produced by UGA that helps teachers learn how to incorporate STEM and STEAM activities into everyday learning experiences.

Service outside the classroom has been a big part of Sarah’s life. “As a student, I volunteered with the YMCA as an office assistant. I worked for Graceway Recovery Residence, a women’s crisis center. I probably volunteered for 200 hours while also being in school.” Sarah has continued to volunteer long after her college days; she and her husband have served for years in the infant to Pre-K program at Buckhead Church and as small group leaders for newly married couples. Service will always be a part of her life, and whether it’s at her church or in the classroom, Sarah knows she’s found a place where she can be her true self.