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Past Winner Spotlight: Jennifer Henry
Sustainable learning. It emanates from a personalized education and a deep understanding of self, world, career, and creating your own pathway to success. It's what constitutes a World Class Education. It's what makes Jennifer Henry a World Class Educator.
 "We meet students where they are. And they're not too young to becoming introspective which is why we pose to them the question: 'Why does this world need you?'" said Henry.
Henry works with Innovation Pavilion which allows students to work with entrepreneurs to tackle real world issues and create innovative solutions. "We're exploring a wide range of topics including childhood obesity, digital storytelling, robotics, coding, and 3-D printing," declared the 2014 Apple Award winner.
"Students believe they can keep up because they have the confidence to do so. They're learning self-advocacy, working with more people and they're developing deeper friendships," according to Henry. Confidence is built through students' "Passion Projects." Everyone develops their own project allowing them to dig deeper into what excites them. Carly, who wants to be a nurse or doctor, has been working with Children's Hospital to learn more about eating disorders. Carson is fascinated with holographic communication and uses resources from the University of Alabama - Huntsville, the premier higher learning institution for that particular discipline.
Perhaps the best summarization of World Class Education comes from Charles who manages his own portfolio as a result of his Stock Market experience: "Ms. Henry provides the guidance and we get to create our day. Our days are productive as a result. She supports us, but doesn't do the work for us. We learn about consequences both good and bad. We know this will make it easier in life when we've finished school."
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