CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Monacan High School junior Amanda Crespo said nominating biology teacher Jessica Farthing for Building Better Minds was a no brainer.
"All her students love her," Amanda said. "Everyone knows her in the school. They know that she's the teacher you want for bio."
“It's clear she loves what she does," sophomore Essex Baylor added. “No other teacher would keep this up; cells and plants and all the projects her students do."
If you ask Ms. Farthing, she’ll tell you the most important part of being a teacher is taking the time to really get to know your students.
"I have learned that it's a big deal for them when there is someone who wants to know how their life is, what they're doing, what's going on this weekend," Ms. Farthing said.
In addition to teaching at Monacan, Ms. Farthing is also the Junior Class sponsor, organizer of the school's powderpuff game, Junior Class ring ceremony, and prom. She's also the varsity cheer leading coach, student leadership mentor, and freshmen homeroom teacher.
With all that, she still makes time to get to know her students as much as she can.
"I have someone to talk to," Amanda said. "I have somebody that relates to me. I can just go to (her) and vent if I need to or even just sit with and be comforted by."
If all of the teaching and extra-curricular duties weren’t enough, Ms. Farthing is also working on getting her doctorate, so she can one day become a school administrator.
Watch Building Betters Minds each Wednesday on CBS 6 News at 6.
