Throughout a student’s educational journey, their life can be impacted by the teachers that they learn from. Jessie Pingry is a teacher at Woodward Middle School and she says that some of the teachers she had helped her decide to become a teacher as well.

“I became an educator because I had amazing teachers who I wanted to emulate,” she said. “My eighth grade English teacher, Linda Harrison and my first band director Reid Bennett were both big influences in my life. They both instilled hard work and dedication in their students and made us want to strive for excellence.”

Pingry is married to her high school sweetheart, Bryce Pingry, who is also a teacher. They have two kids, Owen and Lily. Jessie is in her fifth-year teaching at Woodward Middle School, she is currently teaching English Language Arts. Before coming to Woodward, she taught ELA at Yukon Middle School, music at Woodward ECC, and her first year of teaching was at Fargo Public Schools.

While she loves spending time in the classroom with her students and seeing them learn, Pingry says that there is another aspect of teaching that she enjoys.

“One of the best things about being an educator is the camaraderie,” she said. “There are always other educators in your corner and ways to help each other. The best advice I have been given is to always ask the question: Is this what’s best for students? When that question is the center of your decisions, it helps to keep you on track to making the right choices.”

Whenever she is not in the classroom with her students, Jessie says that she and her family love to take in new things. 

“My family’s favorite thing to do outside of school is to travel,” she said. “We love going to different places and seeing new things.”