MOORESBORO — It will be eight years in May since Jesse Deaton walked across the stage at Isothermal Community College, earning not only her Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy (TJCA) diploma, but also accepting one of the school’s highest honors - the Faculty Cup. Now, she is closing in on four years of teaching at the very place that helped her decide she wanted to become an educator.
“I knew I wanted to be a teacher in high school, but I started to learn how to teach in middle school,” said Deaton. “When I got to my senior year, I knew I wanted to come back to TJCA because the teachers care about the content. They are comfortable questioning students and their colleagues, which models civil discourse for the community. It is unique, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”
One aspect of TJCA that Deaton emphasized is the school's unique philosophy of education, which emphasizes the “Lost Tools of Learning” by Dorothy Sayers. That essay advocates using the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) as a framework for teaching students how to learn, not just what to learn.
“It is very impactful,” she said. “I didn’t realize how ingrained it was in me until I got to college and started taking tests and completing assignments, and it all clicked.”
Deaton was hired to teach Senior English at TJCA in April 2022. The stars aligned for her as an opening became available when Alex Tiren was promoted. Now, Deaton can apply what she learned at TJCA to students sitting in the same seat she did.
“I know the struggle of what the TJCA students are going through, especially the seniors,” she said. “My senior year, I worked three jobs, had two language classes, two AP classes, and Rhetoric. I was a member of the Academic Team, all while sustaining friendships and building a relationship that would eventually become my marriage.”
There are many factors that make Deaton’s journey full circle. One factor is being able to walk through the middle school building, where she took high school classes, and seeing the middle schoolers she will one day teach. Another factor for Deaton is being in charge of a classroom.
“Imposter Syndrome is very real,” she said. “It is so weird being the one in charge of the classroom. I had so many wonderful teachers, and it’s weird being in their shoes.”
As far as her classroom is concerned, Deaton preaches respect because civil discourse can’t happen without it.
“Respect is essential to education and to citizenship,” she said. “My classroom is based on respect, but it can’t happen unless you have good virtues modeled in the classroom.”
To add to that, not only does Deaton have the four core virtues of classical philosphy: prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude posted on her wall, she also has the word ethos displayed.
“You have to be someone who is deserving of that respect, and then students will give you that respect,” she said.
As for current Gryphons who may have the desire to return as Deaton has, she offered sound advice.
“This is your school as it was and is mine and will be regardless of whether you come back here to teach or not,” she said. “The type of education we do gives people freedom, and freedom is a type of responsibility and one worth fighting for.”
While things at TJCA may look different from what they did 15 years ago, Deaton shared a reassuring message.
“Change is hard, but that’s life,” she said. “It may not look quite the same, but it is the same because we are doing the same philosophy throughout the curriculum.”