Jessica Younghouse, a literature teacher here at North Forsyth High School, was awarded Teacher of the Year after school on August 30th, in front of the entire faculty. After 18 years of teaching, Mrs. Younghouse received an award that showed her leadership, dedication, and commitment to her students at North Forsyth High School.

Mrs. Younghouse first found out about her nomination through an email from the school, making her 1 of the 6 total candidates for the award. All the teachers and faculty voted on their candidate, and on that early release day, Mrs. Younghouse was deemed Teacher of the Year. 

“[I was] very honored and grateful especially since I struggled in school as a student…[I never thought that I would receive this award, but] I always wanted it,” Mrs. Younghouse explained as she talked about how much the award meant to her. She has come a long way from  struggling as a high school student to becoming an inspirational individual for the students that she teaches at North. She inspires students to be the best they can be in school and she truly loves what she does. 

Mrs. Younghouse’s love for teaching first began in college. She started teaching private swim lessons to a nonverbal autistic boy. Through the lessons, Mrs. Younghouse began to realize that he communicated through music; from then on, she started to sing to him during lessons. She started to see improvements and he had a way to communicate with his friends and family. Through that experience, she was inspired to start teaching, changing her major from environmental science to english and education. 

“Helping people was important to me and I pursued education from then on.” -Mrs. Younghouse 

Through it all, Mrs. Younghouse continues to inspire students to be the best versions of themselves, and through her commitment and passion for teaching, she was able to receive the Teacher of the Year award for the 2019-2020 school year. She is leaving her legacy at North Forsyth High School as she impacts her students positively. 

When asked how it felt to know that she was inspiring students, Mrs. Younghouse replied by saying that “this is the reason why I continue teaching. It is important for me to know my students and show the, I am here to support them.”