With the inspiration from her mother, who also shared a passion for teaching, Amanda Snader has always known that teaching was for her. “My mom is a third grade teacher, and I loved going into her classroom and helping her grade papers and whatnot.” Also, with the motivation from a cherished high school teacher, Snader knew that English was the subject she wanted to teach. “She made such a huge impact on my life,” Snader says. “I wanted to have the same impact on others.” Although Snader showed some interests in topics such as World History and enjoys learning about other cultures, she says, “To me, English was always the subject that I could most closely relate to real life experiences. I was able to draw on my own life connections from the stories we read.”
Amanda Snader has been teaching English at Jacksonville High School for 2 years now. After serving a year as an aide/substitute/part-time teacher, Snader was more than excited to finally have her own classroom and desk to make her teaching career official. “Since I was a certified teacher, I was frequently pulled from my aide duties to substitute or teach my own mini-units,” Snader shares. “It took me a full year to find a full-time position.” Snader found a certain pride in her work and students. After attending her first home Crimson football game, Snader was amazed to see many of her students participating in various activities. “I was very involved when I was a student,” Snader tells. “I was so proud to see many of my own students getting involved in something they clearly loved.”
Being a high school teacher is not always the easiest, although Snader shares how she truly enjoys working with teenagers. “It’s so much more exciting to talk about stories and real-life scenarios when the students can actually imagine a situation.” Although dealing with independent kids and occasionally rebellious ones, Snader is determined to help each and every one of her students succeed the best she can. “Any teacher will tell you that there’s always someone that you desperately want to succeed, but it is up to the student to decide how much work he/she wants to put into education.”
Being a new resident to the Jacksonville community has its up and downs, especially when you are “legally blind” like Amanda Snader. “I don’t always like to tell people this when we first meet, just because I like to show them that I am capable of living a ‘normal’ life…” Despite not growing up in the Morgan County area, Snader has been able to learn many things over the last year and a half. “It’s forced me to open my mind… It has really helped me with my perspective in how I approach students with a particular issue.” Teaching at JHS has helped Snader to understand that many students were not raised with the same expectations as she was. “Coming to JHS has educated me about all the wonderful options my students have for them after they graduate. I love them teaching me about what they want to do after they graduate, and I can’t wait to see them succeed!” Snader exclaims.
Ever since becoming a teacher, Snader has become a “big picture thinker.” Before each new unit, Snader spend several weekends thinking everything out before she starts teaching it. “When you divide up all of the planning, photocopying, and grading, it probably takes about two to three hours to plan each day…” She tells. Snader hopes to achieve more experience with the years to come so she can trim some of those hours down a bit. Despite the constant planning, Snader always seems to find something great about each day she teaches. Snader shares about a hectic Friday with much to do on her checklist when she was stopped by one of her student’s parents… “The parent took the time to tell me that I was her child’s favorite teacher, even though it wasn’t this student’s best subject. Hearing that made all the craziness worthwhile. You take those moments that you treasure and keep them tucked away somewhere for the rough days.” This is only one of the few examples that makes Amanda Snader so proud to be a teacher. “I’m proud that I get to work with so many exciting individuals everyday. I love all of my students’ unique qualities, and am happy that so many of my students from last year make a point of stopping by and saying ‘Hi!’”
Before retiring Snader is determined to continue her education and obtain a Masters at some point. She also hopes to aspire her childhood dream of having a book of her own published.