“If you change one child every year into a better person, that is a lot to contribute,” is the philosophy Jackie Wortmann follows in her career at Southeast Missouri State University.
Jackie joined the Southeast staff in 1996, and in her time at the University, she has influenced many students to become better people. She worked as a researcher the Math and Science Teacher Answerline until 1999 when she became the education specialist at the Missouri NASA Educator Resource Center and Math Resource Center at Southeast.
The NASA Educator Resource Center, which began in 1999, provides free educational materials from NASA for Missouri educators, students and the general public. Items available include posters, educator guides, student activities, DVDs and lithographs of planets, galaxies and astronauts, and much more.
The Math Resource Center is a free library of materials such as trade books, literature, games, manipulatives, measuring devices and more to enhance mathematics teaching and learning.
The Centers are located in Rooms 101 and 102 in Brandt Hall and are great field trip destinations for all students. Both Centers offer public group tours, workshops and presentations.
As an education specialist at the resource centers, Jackie takes care of the physical appearance, statistics, workshops, tours and classroom presentations and promotes the centers’ activities to regional teachers and informal educators across southeast Missouri.
The majority of the centers’ patrons are local teachers, home school teachers, parents and the general public, but Jackie also sees a lot of students come and go and enjoys witnessing their growth from students into professionals.
“I love working with the University students who visit and work with me at the center. When I hire them as freshmen, it is a pleasure to watch them mature over the years until graduation,” Jackie said.
Jackie graduated from Southeast with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1992 and her master’s degree in natural science in 2009. She said she had not planned on becoming an education specialist until she had children of her own and returned to the University as a student.
“Teaching involves a lot of persistence, something I didn’t know I had,” Jackie said. I realized I wanted to interact with students and give them a positive model. I relax and let the students be more themselves, so I become more of a facilitator. I always use hands-on inquiry science.”
Jackie has many hobbies outside of the education world. Her favorite activities include gardening, reading murder mysteries, finding deals at yard sales and collecting rocks.
Always looking for ways to improve her garden, Jackie said she and her friend, sisters and aunts share gardening tips, secrets and seeds with each other.
“We have a language all our own about gardens!” she said.
Jackie’s rock collection began years ago when she hunted for Indian arrow heads on her grandfather’s farm, which led to searching for rocks with fossils found in the Central Missouri landscape. Jackie then began to collect rocks from each place she visited, and friends started to bring rocks back from their travels for her as well.
Jackie’s experience in life and assisting teachers thus far has taught her something she would like to share with Southeast students.
“There is a huge world outside the door, and they should discover it. A balance in life of a little of this and a little of that is a great thing. Don’t fill up your time. Give yourself time to think.”