Down the English hallway in room 506, Jordan Dombrowski’s sophomore fourth hour was bustling with the chatter of students after an extensive vocabulary test. Dombrowski began to go over the test, but quickly lost the students’ attention and watched as a group of administrators entered the room carrying a large bunch of colorful balloons.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have some very special news I’d like to share with all of you,” principal Jason Peres said to the class. “Ms. Dombrowski will represent the Shawnee Mission School District as the nominee for the Kansas Horizon Award.”
Students’ cheers echoed through the classroom as Dombrowski joyfully accepted the bunch of balloons and posed for a picture.
The Kansas Horizon Award is an award given by the Kansas Department of Education to an outstanding first-year teacher. Dombrowski was selected to represent SM East at the start of this school year, and she was chosen to represent SMSD at the state level.
“I was really shocked that I was nominated because it's such a big honor to have,” Dombrowski said. “It's really cool to know that people were seeing the work that I was putting in and seeing how it was helping students.”
After advancing through the district level, Dombrowski had to write four essays about her teaching style. She also asked a few administrators to write about their observations from watching her teach, and reached out to parents and students from last school year for letters of recommendation. The compiled essays were sent to the Kansas Department of Education, where the applications were anonymously read to pick a winner.
“I was so honored that she asked me [to write a letter of recommendation],” former student of Dombrowski and junior Hallie Pfeiffer said. “She made such an impact on me last year, and I was excited when she got the award because that was just such a huge deal for her.”
To announce that she’d won the award for the whole state, Dr. Randy Watson, the Kansas Commissioner of Education, surprised Dombrowski by personally calling to congratulate her.
As Dombrowski walked back through the halls with her balloons in hand, she bumped into a student of hers, sophomore Nell Breytspraak. Dombrowski told Breytspraak she’d won the award after seeing Breytspraak’s confused look at the balloons and flowers she was carrying. Breytspraak excitedly ran back into the classroom and told everyone to clap as Dombrowski came back in.
“She's really good at connecting with us and making it not a stressful environment, because she obviously really likes what she does,” Breytspraak said.
Seeing the smiles on her students’ faces as they clapped for her made Dombrowski know teaching was what she was meant to do.
Growing up with a mom who taught math, Dombrowski was always exposed to teaching kids — though it wasn’t until her senior year of high school that she decided to become one. After a couple of internships at a nearby middle school, she found that teaching was what she wanted to major in.
“I just kind of fell in love with seeing people learning and that light bulb clicking when they get something,” Dombrowski said.
Dombrowski’s room buddy and sophomore English teacher Kristine Turner was a big help for Dombrowski during her first year teaching last year, helping her learn the culture of the school, while also planning lessons together. Dombrowski saw Turner as a mentor in the world of English teaching.
“I was a sounding board for her,” Turner said. “Anytime things weren't going as well, we talked about ways to revise it. I’d try to listen and help walk her through the struggles of being a first-year teacher and being overwhelmed.”
The support from her fellow teachers, students and administrators helped Dombrowski through the process of winning the Horizon Award. As a winner, she’ll get to speak at the Kansas Exemplary Educators Network Conference in February.
“Being a first-year teacher is a hard experience, but I was blessed to have really excellent students last year that made my job really fun,” Dombrowski said. “I had to put in a lot of work to create fun and interesting activities for them, but they made it all worth it because of their levels of engagement and the joy they brought to class.”
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