Growing
up, Jordan Warner, administrative assistant and elementary e-learning
coordinator at Scottsburg Elementary School, quickly learned the value
of hard work and education.
“My parents believed that I needed to
work at places I didn’t enjoy,” Warner said about learning the value of
education and hard work.
So, Warner went to work on a garbage truck and on a tobacco farm when he was in high school in Jefferson County, Ind.
“My
parents were very supportive of where I wanted to go and what I wanted
to do,” Warner said. But, for him and his sister, not going to college
“was never an option for us.”
By seeing firsthand the value of
hard work and education, Warner chose to become an educator in order to
make a difference. His goal was not to necessarily save the world; it
was to make school more enjoyable for students and teachers. As a
student, Warner said he did not have as positive of an experience as he
felt he could have had, so he wanted to improve upon it.
It was also his goal to become an administrator.
“I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to make it more fun,” Warner said.
After
graduation at Franklin College for his undergraduate degree, Warner
went to work for one year at a school in Shelbyville, Ind., and then, he
took a job with Scott County School District 2, teaching at Lexington
Elementary School for two years.
“I come from a family of
teachers. My fiancée and my sister, who is four years older than me, are
teachers in Carroll County, Ky. I’ve always loved working with the
kids,” Warner said. “I love hearing them talk about things and talk
about their weekend.”
During the summer, the administrative
assistant and elementary e-learning coordinator position at SES became
available when the former assistant principal and e-learning
coordinator, Tiffany Barrett, was named the new principal at
Vienna-Finley Elementary School. To reach his goals, Warner, who is
nearing completion of his administrator’s license requirements and
master’s degree from Western Governors University, applied for the job.
Later, he was offered the position and accepted.
“[To become an
administrator] was always the goal,” Warner said. “I am in charge of all
the behavior for grades Kindergarten through fourth. I am also in
charge of the bus dismissal at the back door of the school. [As an
administrative assistant], you have to deal with the behind the scenes
things — irate parents, being paged to classrooms or having to go
somewhere, and teacher evaluations. You have to make the final say.”
Because
his position is both administrative assistant and elementary e-learning
coordinator, Warner spends the majority of his week as an
administrative assistant and the other two days as e-learning
coordinator for the elementary schools, where he helps teachers with
implementing technology and finding new applications and programs for
the classroom.
“I am passionate about researching. [Technology]
has always come easy for me,” Warner said. “When you’re able to solve
that problem for a teacher is the best part. I want to help out in some
way.”
When Warner is not in the classroom or the office, he spends
his time building and creating. During the summer, he works with mother
at Midwest Gym Supply in Madison, Ind. The company installs custom
gymnastics equipment and padding throughout the Eastern half of the
United States.
“It’s something different,” Warner said. “We do gym installs, trampoline parks, and foam pits.”
Warner also likes to create and build in his backyard and around his house by using his carpentry and woodworking skills.
“My
dad has always been the type we do things on our own,” Warner said
about how he started his hobby in the building trades. “I will look at a
photo and start building. I’m not the type that goes on instructions.
I’m very go, go, go.”
For his nearly 2-year-old daughter, he
created an elaborate, pink playhouse and playset. He created the play
area from his own plans.
“I always wanted to build our playhouse,” Warner said.
Warner
is making a difference whether he is helping teachers implementing
technology in the classroom, he is holding the door open for a student
during bus dismissal, or he is building into the lives of children
during the day at Scottsburg Elementary School. At Scott County School
District 2, Warner’s story is our story. Your story matters. You matter.