Jessica Winder grew up in rural Western New York State, and attended Nazareth College of Rochester, where she earned a B.S. in Health Science and an M.S. in Physical Therapy. She worked for 17 years as a licensed Physical Therapist and clinical instructor, in CA and most recently in PA, before electing to remain home in 2015 to homeschool her four children. This was the formal beginning of her own Classical Education experience. Since then, she has had the privilege to teach the Sciences, beginning Latin, and Upper School Composition with Schole Homeschool Center in Harrisburg, PA. She is a co-founder of Schole North Branch Classical Co-op in Danville, PA, co-founder and current Board President of The Hope Center of Nescopeck, PA and a 2022 graduate of the CiRCE Institute’s Master Teacher Apprenticeship program. Jessica is grateful to her kind and supportive husband Michael, and to Hillsdale College for the opportunity to participate in the MACE program.
Research interests:
Special Education in Classical Education, School and Program Development, Public Policy in Education.
Post-graduation plans:
My particular hope is to assist other parents in providing this type of education to their children, by training, teaching directly, or developing communities by which they can find the support that they need.
What brought you to Hillsdale?
I was introduced to Hillsdale more than 15 years ago, after reading an article by Dr. Larry Arnn in Imprimis. I have followed the college ever since, keeping a keen eye on both their Barney Charter School and Classical Education program developments. As my interest and personal involvement with Classical Education progressed, it was a natural choice to pursue admission to the new Graduate program and I am honored to participate in this second cohort.
What has been the thing you’ve appreciated most about your time here?
My first impression was to notice how our professors take an intentional, honest interest in the students. We are challenged to engage with them as co-learners, and to seek out conversations and opportunities to learn from them while we are here. It is standard to see students taking advantage of office hours, or professors continuing conversations by walking alongside students between classes. I also appreciate beyond words this experience that Hillsdale is able to provide to my family. Three of my four children are attending Hillsdale Academy, the fourth continues to homeschool full time and attends campus with me daily. They are witnessing and benefiting from layers of modeling and encouragement as professors, parents, college students, Academy students, their youngest family members, and even other homeschooling families are present and interact on “the hill.”
What has been your greatest academic challenge thus far?
My greatest challenge without a doubt has been to provide a classical education for my children. It is not an experience I grew up with and without a classical school or co-op within an hour’s drive of our home, learning how to source and manage a homeschool experience added another level of complexity. Graduate school, with all its rigor and expectation, has been, in some ways, an opportunity for respite and recharge.
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