Columbia selects Jump as Teacher of the Year

MADISON – Karen Jump is Teacher of the Year at Columbia Elementary School.

Jump has worked at Columbia since its opening in 2004 — 10 years with fourth-graders and three years with third-graders. Currently, she teaches third-grade math and science. Originally from Cullman, she moved to Madison in 2004 to accept the job.

She also works as assistant director of Columbia’s extended day and summer camp programs. She is a member of Madison City Schools K-3 Leadership Team, Response to Intervention Team and Forward Team.

She strives to find engaging activities that align with students’ course of study. “I want students to learn how to work collaboratively with others and be respectful to each other,” Jump said. “I expect all of my students to do their best and encourage them to do that.”

Jump engages students in numerous hands-on activities in science, such as dissecting owl pellets to learn about rodent bones, growing plants and STEM activities. In math, students work in groups on projects and use various manipulatives to learn math standards.

To incorporate technology, she arranged a Mystery Skype with a class near Chicago. “We’ve been tweeting with a class in Minnesota to learn about their classroom and share about ours,” Jump said.

In her youth, Jump had many elementary school teachers who made a difference in her life, especially Mrs. Melanie Goodwin, third-grade teacher at West Elementary School. Jump best remembers Goodwin’s “caring attitude towards her students and her reading aloud each day.”

At the University of North Alabama, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education. Currently, she is pursuing National Board Certification.

Her husband Andrew works as a systems engineer at QTEC and works on Redstone Arsenal. Their children are Leah, 6, a first-grader at Columbia and Eli, who is three years old.

“In my spare time, I am the assistant leader in my daughter’s Girl Scout troop. My husband and I are active in our church, Capshaw Baptist Church. We lead children’s church once a month, and I help teach the two-year-old Sunday School class,” she said.