Jennifer Jones, an English teacher at Lee’s Summit West High School in the Lee’s Summit R-VII School District, was selected by a committee of her peers and education partners across the state as the 2025 Missouri Teacher of the Year. She becomes the 56th Missouri Teacher of the Year since the program’s inception in 1957.
Jones earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Minnesota at Morris and a Master of Education in Counseling and Educational Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Jones spent the last 19 years of her 23-year career at Lee’s Summit West High School, where she teaches senior College Credit English and International Baccalaureate English Literature and serves as the language arts department co-chair. She is a member of the Greater Kansas City Writing Project, a network of writing teachers; mentors for CAPPIES, a high school theatre critics organization; and produces a monthly open mic event at the Black Box Theatre.
“In my best moments as a teacher, the students function nearly independently from me, relying instead on each other and their own thinking to solve the complex and important challenges inherent in writing and reading,” said Jones. “In order for students to stretch their high school brains toward college thinking, they must work together; in order to work together, they must feel connected to the classroom community.”
“Missouri is fortunate to have so many passionate, dedicated educators, and Jennifer is a wonderful example of the best of our teacher workforce,” said Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger. “Every day Jennifer demonstrates just how important it is to foster a life-long love of learning in both our students and our educators. And she’s committed not just to students’ academic success, but how they develop as people and future leaders.”
Jones focuses on building community and fostering critical thinking in her classroom daily. She brings in simple lesson plans that incorporate individual, peer, and whole-class work to support all students while they learn to take the risks necessary for learning.
Jones resides in Blue Springs. She will be honored during DESE’s Teacher of the Year recognition event at Lake of the Ozarks on Monday, October 21, along with the other finalists, semi-finalists, and Regional Teachers of the Year. Jones will move on to serve as Missouri’s representative in the National Teacher of the Year program.
The Missouri Teacher of the Year program recognizes the efforts of effective teachers, working tirelessly to provide a high-quality education to their students. Greg Kester, a social studies teacher from Potosi R-III School District’s Potosi High School, is the 2024 Missouri Teacher of the Year.