Chapter 50: Ms. Scadden

Jessica Scadden is one of the exceptional English teachers here at Pleasant Valley. She has been teaching for a total of six years with two of those years being at PV.  She currently teaches English 9, American Lit, World Lit, and Essential English.

Even since she was young, Scadden knew she wanted to be a teacher. “When I was young, I moved around a lot since my dad was in the Air Force. I always had teachers that did an excellent job of making their classrooms comfortable and welcoming students in no matter what time of year it was.”

Since her father was in the Air Force, Scadden has lived in many different places. For her education, Scadden attended the University of Central Missouri and Western Illinois University for her undergrad degree. She received her Bachelor’s from Western Illinois University and then decided to continue her education by obtaining her Master’s from there as well. “I loved (and still love) school and learning.”

Because she’s an English teacher, she gets to share her passion for literature with all of her students. “I love books and writing; it’s exciting to share that passion with others, and hopefully, get a few others to enjoy the topic along the way.” When Scadden isn’t at school, one may find her watching scary movies, learning about the British Royal Family, shopping for shoes, or reading.

Scadden enjoys teaching her students and seeing them develop as writers. She loves when students who she has had in previous years come back to visit; these moments often become some of her favorite memories of teaching. A piece of advice that she has always followed and would give to students at Pleasant Valley would be to “figure out what you love and be unapologetically passionate about it.”

Solange Bolger, a senior at Pleasant Valley, currently has Scadden for World Lit. Bolger loves the class and has found the material to be quite interesting because of the way Scadden teaches. “Ms. Scadden has made World Lit more enjoyable this year; usually I am bad at interpreting stories, especially if I don’t enjoy them, but she has made it really fun!”

The English department is very happy to have Scadden, and she serves as an excellent teacher and role model for her students.