Jenell Jackson is a high school counselor at Hanford Joint Union High School District.
Jenell has served as a high school counselor for the past ten years, working with students in grades 9-12 and advising them on college and career and supporting them socially, emotionally and academically. Jenell is also the advisor for her school's Black Student Union. Prior to her work as a high school counselor, she was an elementary educator for ten years, teaching 5th and 6th grade students in a self-contained classroom. Jenell is passionate about helping young people and fostering and nurturing their growth.
Jenell decided to enroll in LMU’s Ed.D. Program because of its emphasis on social justice. She works in the community she was raised in and has learned how impactful and influential her educational experiences have been in her life and work. In her community, Black people make up less than 6% of the population. It's important for her to work toward being an effective advocate for Black, Brown, and other marginalized students and their families in her area. Ultimately, she felt that LMU's Ed.D. program could support her in that endeavor.
Jenell’s dissertation research, Uncovering Complicated Narratives and Nurturing Black Joy––A Critical Race Exploration of the K-12 Educational Experiences of Black College Students, explored the K-12 educational experiences of Black college students specifically in rural/suburban settings. As previously noted, her educational experiences in the community she was raised in had a profound impact on her life. It was important to her to elevate the voices of young Black college students with specific regard to their racial identity, sense of belonging, and well-being in their K-12 educational settings.
Participating in the Ed.D. program has had a profound personal impact on Jenell. She learned so much from her cohort mates and through her dissertation research, she was able to begin the work of unpacking and challenging her own beliefs. Critical self-reflection has become an increasingly important part of the work she does, and she will continue to engage in this practice as a result of her time in the program. She has also learned that there is so much to learn as there are such brilliant people in the space of education doing the work to make the system better for all students.
Jenell is grateful for the opportunity to learn from and with people who, to their core, are determined to work toward creating/building/maintaining an education system that works toward meeting the needs of all students and their families. People who bravely are working toward dismantling the "status quo" and contributing their knowledge in service to others. She is excited to see where the journey takes her, but she will always be grateful to Dr. Delgado Bernal and her friends in Cohort 20.