Amber Jenstad teaches fourth grade at Cortina Elementary. This is her seventh year of teaching at Cortina, but she was gone for a short while as she explored a different career.

Jenstad grew up in Arizona. She says she knew at a young age that she wanted to teach. Because of her passion for helping others, she “knew in (her) heart” that she belonged in the classroom, she explains.

Jenstad had taught both first and third grade at Cortina when she decided to try something new. Jenstad worked with clients with autism as a registered behavior technician, or RBT.

When a teacher left Cortina this school year, Jenstad felt drawn to return to the school and to some of the students who were previously in her classroom.

“I couldn’t let them be left,” Jenstad says, as many of the kids “are very special to me.” Now Jenstad has some of these same students from her first or third grade classes in her fourth grade.

One of these students, Smyth, nominated Jenstad. Smyth’s mom writes, “She loves this teacher more than anything, and has been lucky enough to have her for two years in a row.”

Jenstad says that when she was in school, math and art were her favorite subjects. Now that she is on the teaching side of things, “Math is still my favorite,” she says.

In her free time, Jenstad likes to do arts and crafts, hang out with friends and help others—both people and animals. She also has another escape. “I love to do escape rooms,” she says.

Jenstad says that she likes to remind her students that everyday is a new day for them, and that they can do anything they put their minds to.

According to Jenstad, “I love being a teacher and little things like my students’ kind words and appreciation for our classroom truly melt my heart!”

During her stint working as an RBT, Jenstad gained a greater appreciation for her role as an educator.

“Leaving made me realize how much I missed teaching,” she says.