{"id":1985,"date":"2018-08-02T15:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T19:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1985"},"modified":"2018-08-06T09:50:24","modified_gmt":"2018-08-06T13:50:24","slug":"jenniffer-benedetto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1985","title":{"rendered":"Jenniffer Benedetto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teaching Education Appreciation <\/em><\/h1>\n

By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has a story and everybody has gifts. That\u2019s how I try to teach,\u201d Syracuse City School District teacher Jenniffer Benedetto said. \u201cI educate and inspire with that mindset, with love and determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenniffer didn\u2019t always dream of being a teacher. In fact, growing up, she didn\u2019t particularly love school. Education wasn\u2019t part of the backbone of life, she explained.<\/p>\n

That began to change when she attended Onondaga Community College, where she earned two degrees. She\u2019s always admired her English teachers. At OCC, Jenniffer\u2019s instructors told her she was a talented writer. She began to read more and eventually fell in love with education.<\/p>\n

She earned a master\u2019s degree at the State University of New York College at Cortland. While student teaching in the Syracuse City School District shortly before graduating, she was offered a permanent position with the district.<\/p>\n

Jenniffer spent the next 13 years teaching high school English at Nottingham High School, where autonomy led to success in creative approaches to teaching, she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really been a theme throughout my career,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to do some things I wanted to do and have the freedom to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 12 years ago, the Nottingham administration asked Jenniffer if she would be interested in creating a community-wide dialogue class, since she had such a strong connection with the students.<\/p>\n

Along with a fellow teacher, Jenniffer worked to create Cultural Voices, now a New York State Recognized Program of Excellence. The class \u2014 typically a semester in length \u2014 connects high school students with doctoral and masters students, and centers around the skill of dialogue communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I tell them, \u2018That will open doors for you in life, not just in school. Maybe in your personal life, on the job [or] in college,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

About three years ago, Jenniffer was given the opportunity to help pilot a new program at the district\u2019s Johnson Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever was here before was not working,\u201d she explained. \u201cKids were not earning credits. Kids were not graduating.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, Jenniffer and a few other teachers created the alternative high school program EPIC, Engaging People in Innovation and Creativity. They approached the project with a question in mind: how can we help and connect with these students for whom the traditional, larger high school setting hasn\u2019t worked?<\/p>\n

Now, three years later, after hard work and new methods \u2014 including more field trips, more community interaction and stronger relationships with students and their families \u2014 graduation rates have increased.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship piece is key, especially in alternative ed,\u201d Jenniffer said.<\/p>\n

Class sizes are small, with no more than 15 students per class. Jenniffer\u2019s school days start by greeting each student with lots of energy. For children who don\u2019t have a lot of experience being a student, just walking into a space can cause anxiety, she explained.<\/p>\n

Being someone who didn\u2019t always feel comfortable in school, Jenniffer hopes sharing her own experiences can help her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I felt like an outsider looking into the world of education,\u201d she remembered. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize my own intellect until I went to college. And I thought, \u2018There\u2019s got to be more young people who feel like me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She uses small group learning stations to cover different topics each day, and has also adapted the Cultural Voices program to fit the alternative education setting.<\/p>\n

Starting in fall 2019, Jenniffer plans to be part of Peer Assistance and Review, a district program aimed to provide support, guidance and evaluation for first-year teachers. She hopes her experiences as an educator will help young teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to do something to impact the school system and teaching even more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jenniffer hopes to inspire people to stay in Syracuse. There\u2019s a great deal of potential in the area, she explained. She\u2019d like to see young people stay and become teachers and leaders.<\/p>\n

Through her 16 years of teaching, Jenniffer\u2019s made lasting connections with her students and their families. She mentors them long after the school year is over. Whether it\u2019s being part of a book club, looking over a resume or job application, or bringing them to a march or rally, she\u2019s happy to help them find their voice and have it heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a voice. They just need a platform,\u201d Jenniffer said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll be the conduit for that.\u201d SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

For more information about the Syracuse City School District, visit syracusecityschools.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teaching Education Appreciation By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm\u00a0 \u201cEveryone has a story and everybody has gifts. That\u2019s how I try to teach,\u201d Syracuse City School District teacher Jenniffer Benedetto said. \u201cI educate and inspire with that mindset, with love and determination.\u201d Jenniffer didn\u2019t always dream of being a teacher. In fact, growing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[156,648,666,133,564,262],"class_list":["post-1985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-alexis-emm","tag-august-2018","tag-jenniffer-benedetto","tag-lorna-oppedisano","tag-syracuse-city-school-district","tag-syracuse-woman-magazine"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photo-1.jpg?fit=5200%2C3444&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1595,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1595","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":0},"title":"Linda Lovig","author":"Staff","date":"March 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Birth of Syracuse Midwives By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm\u00a0 When Syracuse native Linda Lovig moved with her family to Flagstaff, Ariz., she wanted to do something for her community, and decided to get certified as an EMT. One piece of her coursework was to observe a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=101"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/AEP-SWM-MARCH-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C870&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/AEP-SWM-MARCH-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C870&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/AEP-SWM-MARCH-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C870&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/AEP-SWM-MARCH-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C870&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/AEP-SWM-MARCH-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C870&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":861,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=861","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":1},"title":"Teresa Martini","author":"Staff","date":"June 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Tere of Transformation By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm Life is full of surprises. \u201cYou have one idea for yourself,\u201dTeresa Martini mused as she peered through oversized sunglasses. \u201cI thought I would be an organic farmer or travel the world or whatever free-spirited, crazy thing I thought I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Inspire-tere_0717.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Inspire-tere_0717.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Inspire-tere_0717.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Inspire-tere_0717.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Inspire-tere_0717.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":962,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=962","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":2},"title":"Purpose Farm","author":"Staff","date":"July 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Living with a Purpose By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm \u201cMy earliest memory in life is riding a rocking horse nonstop. My parents could not get me off of that thing for years,\u201d said Sandra Seabrook, the president and founder of Purpose Farm. It\u2019s fitting that Sandra now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photograffi-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C808&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photograffi-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C808&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photograffi-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C808&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photograffi-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C808&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photograffi-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C808&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1907,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1907","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":3},"title":"Clara Cedeno","author":"Staff","date":"June 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Finding Yourself with Food\u00a0 By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm\u00a0 \u201cI never see anything that I do as a waste of time,\u201d Clara Cedeno said, \u201cbecause once you start seeing things as a waste of time, you start having all these regrets.\u201d You can learn something from every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SWM-MAG-5-11-18-Alexis-Emm-Photo-6.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SWM-MAG-5-11-18-Alexis-Emm-Photo-6.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SWM-MAG-5-11-18-Alexis-Emm-Photo-6.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SWM-MAG-5-11-18-Alexis-Emm-Photo-6.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SWM-MAG-5-11-18-Alexis-Emm-Photo-6.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1164,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1164","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":4},"title":"Venecia DeRoose","author":"Staff","date":"October 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Peering to Solid Ground\u00a0 By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm When Venecia DeRoose left the United States Navy, she knew she wanted to help veterans. The following year, shortly after Veterans Day in 2014, she joined the team at Clear Path for Veterans as a peer mentor. Now,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/AEP-SWM-NOV-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C805&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/AEP-SWM-NOV-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C805&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/AEP-SWM-NOV-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C805&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/AEP-SWM-NOV-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C805&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/AEP-SWM-NOV-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C805&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1095,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1095","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":5},"title":"Cheryl Heller","author":"Staff","date":"September 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Seeking the Silver Lining By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm The tale of local business owner and four-time cancer survivor Cheryl Heller\u2019s battles with the disease starts out like many other busy women\u2019s stories. \u201cI was concentrating on so many other parts of my life at that point,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Alexis-Emm-Photo-Syracuse-Headshot-Photographers-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Alexis-Emm-Photo-Syracuse-Headshot-Photographers-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Alexis-Emm-Photo-Syracuse-Headshot-Photographers-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Alexis-Emm-Photo-Syracuse-Headshot-Photographers-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Alexis-Emm-Photo-Syracuse-Headshot-Photographers-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1986,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985\/revisions\/1986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}