Jenna Hanssen, Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History (APUSH) teacher at JHS, has been teaching APUSH for 6 years and previously taught AP Human Geography for 7 years, along with various AICE classes throughout her career.

Hanssen is originally from Happy Valley, Utah, a conservative county near Brigham Young University (BYU). She loves reading, exercising, traveling and being outside. She experienced a close knit upbringing and described her highschool years as a lot more manageable than modern day times.

“I feel bad for you guys, because my high school years were a lot less stressful. There wasn’t the big push to take AP classes. There weren’t any AICE classes,” Hanssen said. “And I feel like during my growing up there was more focus on social [events]– we had one dance like every month, there were more activities, and it just wasn’t as high stakes as it seems today.”

Hanssen attended the University of Utah and her journey into teaching was a result of trying out many different careers. She initially avoided becoming a teacher due to perceived low pay and lack of respect. Even though she originally wanted to major in history, she tried other “practical” jobs first to avoid being a teacher.

“First of all I was going to be a physical therapist, but then I realized I’m not good at math and science, so I switched. So I majored in communications and mass journalism, and I worked at a newspaper for about 4 years, and I was really bored so I decided to go back and get another degree, and again, I chose the wrong one because I majored in English with a minor in geography,” Hanssen said. “My first teaching job, luckily, was geography, and I’ve been in social studies ever since.”

Hanssen has taught a variety of classes including AP Human Geography, AP U.S. History, AICE Classical Studies, AICE Travel & Tourism and other social studies courses.

“I really liked AP Human Geography a lot, but I really enjoy the challenge of AP U.S. History, because it’s challenging to get students to write DBQs [Document Based Questions] and it takes a lot of work and effort on my part- but I find it immensely rewarding in the end,” Hanssen said.

Hanssen enjoys teaching at Jupiter and appreciates the dedication of her students to learning. She thinks it may be harder for other classes to have students as dedicated as hers and  is especially grateful.

“I think we (JHS) have great students that want to succeed, and they’re motivated to succeed, and I feel incredibly privileged to teach AP U.S. History because I am aware that I teach the best of the best, and I have the most motivated students. I’m really lucky that I get to deal with that on a daily basis,” Hanssen said.

Hanssen enjoys the challenge of APUSHand believes that there are many ways to achieve your goals in the course and understand the material with confidence.

“AP is a lot of work, and so to be successful, you have to work hard. And that’s kind of the main thing– try and be mindful. Actually paying attention in class is a game changer. Actually paying attention when you do the reading and not just going through the motions, but actually trying to learn when you’re doing the homework and while you’re in class, that would be the biggest tip I would give [to AP U.S. History students],” Hanssen said.

Hanssen’s students are hard workers and respect the work she puts in to prepare them for the exam.

“Mrs Hanssen is funny, I loved her class. I think she is an amazing AP U.S History teacher, the best one at this school in my opinion. I loved it when she took us on walks at the end of the year and we played outside,” Tyler Jhagroo, senior and former Hanssen student, said.

Hanssen has a clear passion for history and is inspired by selfless historical figures who try hard to make the changes that benefit society.

“I am really inspired by people that are selfless and they want the best for society, and I call them like the ‘bright lights’ in history, because there’s a lot of really bad things that happen in history, but I find it very inspiring to study and talk about the people that want to make a difference, and they want more justice, and they want more equality and they want more kindness in the world,” Hanssen said. “So my favorite part of U.S. history are those people.”

Similar to her favorite part of U.S. history, Hanssen believes you can incorporate those characteristics in your own life.

“Be kind to people and be compassionate and listen to other people’s viewpoints. Try to be kind because we need a lot more kindness in the world. Try to make the world a better place by being a kinder, compassionate human being. Thank you,” Hanssen said.