Sharing Her Story

Sydney Jensen (B.S.Ed. ’13)

Degree program: English education
Current position: Ninth grade English teacher and instructional coach, Lincoln High School
Lives in: Lincoln, Nebraska 

When Sydney Jensen took the stage at TED last year, she had one thing on her mind: To communicate her passion for teacher wellness to educators around the world.  

Almost immediately, her video, which was posted on TED’s website, generated attention from people across the country who could relate to her call for teacher support, especially for those at risk of “secondary trauma.” In New York, Jensen (B.S.Ed. ’13) shared her own personal experiences as a teacher and explained how educators often absorb the emotional weight of their students. According to a recent Gallup study, she says, teaching tied with nursing as the most stressful profession in the U.S. with experts citing stress as a major constraint on mental health.

“My TED Talk was me sharing my story,” says Jensen, who currently teaches ninth grade English at Lincoln High School in Nebraska. “I don't pretend to have the answers, but I want the conversation to happen. With every conversation I get to have with another person who's experiencing this, we are growing the swarm. And it's not about me, it's about these collective voices, and as those voices grow louder, someone has to listen.”

Jensen’s video generated over 100,000 views in less than two hours, and today, has over 1.6 million views. After her talk was posted on TED.com last October, Jensen received hundreds of messages from teachers across the nation via Facebook and Twitter. These online hubs are places for teachers to learn about secondary trauma and compassion fatigue and to discuss different support plans in their buildings and school districts. “The best part of hearing from so many teachers all over the world is knowing that my talk resonated with them,” says Jensen. “It makes it feel like I did something that matters, and that is really special.”

Like many teachers, Jensen’s first year in the classroom was a learning experience, not because of her students, but because of the lack of communication and support from her school’s leadership team. After the school year ended, Jensen felt drained, but not discouraged. She applied to a different position and landed her dream job as a ninth-grade English teacher and instructional coach at Lincoln High.

“If the first year in a classroom doesn't turn out the way you had anticipated, don't give up on it right away,” says Jensen. “Just because it's your first job doesn't mean it needs to be your last—you have to find the space that fits you.” Five years after finding her place in the classroom and helping her students achieve both academically and emotionally, Jensen was named Nebraska’s 2019 Teacher of the Year. Along with the other 56 teachers honored by the national program, Jensen traveled to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, as well as to Washington, D.C., Denver, New Orleans, and New York as an ambassador for the teaching profession.

During a storytelling workshop in Palo Alto, California, Jensen volunteered to speak about her experiences as a teacher and was later approached by another UGA College of Education alumnus, Logan Smalley (B.S.Ed. ’06), who was in the audience. Smalley, the founding director of TED-Ed, asked Jensen to submit a proposal to deliver a TED Talk on any topic she felt passionate about, and the rest is history. Since then, she has spoken at numerous events across the country, including at the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska State Education Association, the National Educators Association, Sevenzo, and more.

While Jensen enjoys using her platform to share the importance of mental, social, and emotional health support for teachers, her passion lies in the classroom where she is dedicated to implementing restorative practices for her students. During community-building discussions in class, students are encouraged to share their views on topics ranging from their favorite scents to personal tattoo ideas, which Jensen tries to connect back to her lesson plans.

“It's so important to teach kids how to communicate with people that they don't agree with necessarily,” says Jensen. “These are skills that they'll need to be successful in the workforce and in society. I think that's a really powerful way for kids who don't see themselves as similar to some of their peers to find those commonalities, and it reinforces the idea that we're all human beings.”