Crimson and Gold Connection; Jenni Snell

Welcome to Crimson and Gold Connection. My name is Dustin Triber and today our guest is a young woman who I've known for many years actually growing up in my hometown our hometown St. Paul. I you from St. Paul will know her as Ginny Smith. She's now Ginny Snow. Ginny thank you for coming in today. Thank you for having me Dustin. And we have you you've actually just won an award a very prestigious award. You were the family and consumer science instructor here at Pittsburgh University for a year now and you just one I'm gonna try to see this all in one one one breath. The post-secondary teacher of the year by the Kansas Association for a Center darn it I did it wrong let me do this again. The post-secondary teacher of the year by the Kansas Association for Career and Technical Education or K-ACTE. Yes. Congratulations. Thank you so much. That's that's very that's very cool. I mean big it's it's a statewide award and it actually goes on to a national level. It does yeah I recognition is recognition it's really more recognition for the program more than it is for you know me as the instructor because in all

reality I don't become who I am as the instructor without the help of my colleagues and with that it's you know those that are in my classroom those that are in the community those that occupy the university campus that's where I owe the award to really is to them it's just that I get to represent that's it and you're an awesome representative this is probably going to be a more informal interview than I usually do because I Jenny and I go well way back we both grew up in St. Paul Kansas just a few miles down the road from Pittsburgh and she's about three or four years younger than me we actually sang together in church at the Catholic Church and it's that you still do you still say I do you do I do with funeral weddings and once a month bar mitzvahs oh yeah you're available for everything yes and among all that I mean you you hold several degrees three degrees from Pittsburgh State University you have a bachelor of science and

family and consumer sciences and to from to in 2008 ABS and FCS education 2011 and a masters of science and career and technical education 2013 and you're currently working on my doctorate oh my I know through the University of Arkansas and I love them I love Gus but I I also like the razorbacks if yeah I have to have a connection so I'm sailing through the program very quickly all because of the hogs well as long as you stay here now you actually spend you spend a couple of years in Montana and now you're back here at Pittsburgh State University you just finished your first year I did and and you're teaching how many classes oh goodness this semester I have four different teachers column preps and yeah I have nutrition and health I teach teaching techniques and methods for family consumer sciences educators that's that's my role I and the coordinator for teacher education for family and consumer sciences it is a mouthful to shorten it it's known as facts so that's that I know the other what else do I teach career

management and it's just pretty much how to manage life and career and what all is out there in the world that the freshmen can do with their careers with their majors that they've declared okay and you've is this teaching is it something you've always wanted to be your mom was a teacher yeah she was I'm no I had no idea I wanted to be a teacher in all honesty you know me yeah I was not a very I was very onary let's say yeah yeah we could say that yes um so it it took me some time some life experience to figure out of what it was that I wanted to do and it wasn't until I went to Montana I got a job there's not any fashion in Montana and that was my first degree was fashion merchandising and when I went up there you know either I get into fly fishing gear or snowboarding gear that wasn't the option it was take a preschool teaching job at a Methodist Church and so I

taught there for a couple years and really enjoyed herding cats it was a lot of fun yeah and ironically enough growing up on a farm I have a tendency to collect many animals so after I discovered you know I did that passion it it was my calling to come back to pit and just to get that extension it was the easiest I want to say the easiest but it just made the most sense to come back to pit to extend my education to get that teaching license part to it and do you enjoy more of the the teaching at the college level absolutely absolutely and to me I've taught preschool I've taught at the high school level and now here at the college level they they're all the same you you can say two things nice hands I know but that works and what's the other one I don't know nice hands yeah nice hands but they all act the same they're just taller older I always joke with

my students and say that they have an end with their professors to say you know the prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed until the age of 25 and that's the decision making part of our brain so I always tell my students you know that is your in until you are 25 after that you don't have an excuse I'm almost 35 and I still don't I think mine's still developing it's still soft yeah it's okay I'll get there someday my my wife hopefully the thanks please guy let him let him get this let his prefrontal cortex develop develop all right and you said you're honored yeah I mean that a good way oh absolutely Jenny I mean Jenny snail I've always known as Jenny Smith you've always been one of the most fun people I've always I've ever known thanks so senior as a teacher and being in a teaching environment you got to be a lot of fun for students come in you know I hate to say but you know in college you know there's there's there's good teachers and there's not so good

teachers some of them make it more interesting and obviously if you're more interest in the subject you're more interested what the teacher is saying it makes things a lot easier to soak in that information I can I can I mean anytime you were you're speaking about anything it's easy to listen to you you're you're still entertaining energetic so much fun thank you so much well it's again it's I feel that and it's a quote that I use all the time students don't care what you know until they know that you care so for me a part of my call it success but I just owe it to the relationships and the conversations that I make with people again on campus in the community and that's it that's my favorite part I'm merely a facilitator I mean I have the title of instructor teacher whatever it is you want to put it but I just I'm an entity of love and light and that's what I want to be is an infectious you know entity of love and light and you are thank you so much Jenny snail thank you so much for coming in the family consumer science instructor here at

Pittsburgh State University and of course thank congratulations on winning the post-secondary teacher of the year by the Kansas Association for Career and Technical Education Jenny snail thank you so much thank you Dustin this is Crimson and Gold Connection my name is Dustin Triber thank you for listening