Jennifer Dampf named teacher of year in California

“Ms. Dampf is a really nice teacher; she’s good at helping us learn in math and reading,” second-grader Jayte Higgins said of her California Elementary School teacher.

Jennifer Dampf was named the 2016 California Teacher of the Year. She also is retiring at the end of this school year.

“I will miss her; she’s a really good teacher,” said Higgins, who had hoped to be in Dampf’s class since she had taught her older siblings.

Although she has taught 29 years, 26 at California, Dampf was familiar with the elementary classroom early on by spending time with her mother, who taught for 31 years at California Elementary School.

Dampf taught one year at Russellville and two years in Kansas City before returning to her hometown to teach in the same school she attended. She has taught second grade the last four years; she also has taught kindergarten, first and third grades.

“I’ve enjoyed being at all the different grades,” Dampf said. “I enjoy working with kids and watching them learn.”

Although technology and teaching methods have changed in the decades she has been an educator, her desire to see each child build good self esteem and reach the academic level he or she is capable of has not changed.

“I want my kids to feel they were cared for,” she said.

Dampf will miss her coworkers, too.

“I’ve worked with a lot of good teachers; I don’t feel like I’ve done anything above and beyond,” Dampf said.

Dampf has been married to Mark for 26 years. They have two 20-something children, Drew and Kelsi. She is involved in the child care center at their church, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

Fellow second-grade teacher Nancy Abernathy has worked alongside Dampf the last four years.

“Every morning we have coffee and talk in the hallway,” Abernathy said of the second-grade teachers. “It gets our day going and we get to know each other on a personal level.”

The second-grade teachers also meet during their planning times to discuss strategies, share ideas and problem solve.

“She has a lot of knowledge,” Abernathy said of Dampf.

The most important thing Abernathy has learned from Dampf is kindness, she said.

“She has the ability to look at the bright side of things; that has helped me personally and professionally,” Abernathy said.

A soft-spoken and calm person, Dampf leads by example, Abernathy said.

“When others have a difficult time, she offers her experiences quietly,” she said.

The mild, kind approach also works well with her students.

“Her children grow academically and socially,” Abernathy said. “She works wonders with difficult classes; they make great gains.”

Although no one can replace Dampf, Abernathy said she intends to “do my best to mimic those traits that make her such a wonderful teacher.”

“It has been wonderful to have the opportunity to teach with her,” Abernathy said. “To lose her as a staple of this school is going to be hard for us and the kids.”