Jordan Benoit, a veteran English teacher at Providence Day, was named a 2024 Impact Educator and earned a grant to aid her in teaching a new journalism course, according to the Morehead-Cain Foundation.

Morehead-Cain, based in North Carolina, recognizes teachers who “inspire and shape” future leaders. Pavan Thakkar, who took English I and AP Language and Composition with Ms. Benoit, nominated her as an Impact Educator.

“Thanks to Ms. Benoit, I was able to succeed in the class and develop as a writer,” Pavan, who graduated with the Class of 2024 and is attending Harvard University, wrote in his nomination essay. “After each essay I wrote, Ms. Benoit was always willing to meet outside of class to discuss how the paper could be enhanced. It is through this ‘post-grading’ feedback that I grew and developed as a writer; we would go through the essay line-by-line and discuss ways to improve.”

Ms. Benoit says she felt “humbled” that Pavan recalled his time in her class “so memorable.”

“By far the most revolutionary concept I learned from Ms. Benoit was ‘word-level analysis’ — that a deeper understanding and additional information can be gleaned from examining why the author chose a specific word or phrase, instead of just analyzing the sentence as a whole,” Pavan says. “This concept completely changed the way I analyzed literature and is something I continue to use successfully today. This idea has also been applicable to my research work, where using the word ‘significant’ instead of ‘substantial’ can drastically alter the interpretation of results.”

Once Ms. Benoit was named an Impact Educator, the Foundation invited her to apply for a grant funding a summer travel experience that would "inspire self-discovery, exploration, skill development, and professional growth,” according to the website.

She applied for the grant in the spring of 2024 and won one of the grants. She used the money to travel to New York City to help her plan a new elective she’ll teach at Providence Day this year: New Media Storytelling.

Ms. Benoit will be teaching three sections of the course.

“One of my favorite college experiences was interning at WFSU, the Tallahassee, Florida, NPR affiliate,” says Ms. Benoit, who double-majored in English Literature and Communications. After college, I considered a journalism master's program because, in addition to books and writing, I am also interested in ethics, the evolution of American media, and politics.

She adds: “For a couple of years now, I have considered introducing a journalism class at Providence Day because it seems like a natural combination of my interests. I feel so fortunate to work at a school that encourages me to bring my personal passions to the classroom.”

Before her trip to New York City, she met with Chloe Appleby, who graduated from Providence Day in 2018 and had just graduated from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

“In addition to giving me ideas for reading material and assignments, she led me on a brainstorming journey that helped get my syllabus started,” Ms. Benoit says. “To prepare for the New York City trip, I contacted Columbia University and The Dalton School, and I also set up some media tours and experiences.”

On her first full day in New York City, Ms. Benoit toured NBC studios, where she saw where Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show are filmed. She also re-learned some radio and television broadcasting history. Ms. Benoit was given the opportunity to put together a mock news segment and be a Today Show anchor for a couple of minutes.

“On day two, I was part of the live studio audience for The View; I even got placed in the front row,” she says. “That afternoon, I attended the filming of The Daily Show. It was interesting to see the contrast between a live taping and a recorded show.”

On the final day of her trip, she visited Columbia and met with Dr. George Miller, Associate Dean For Academic Affairs at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism.

“Reflecting now, the experiences I had were incredibly helpful to my preparations for the class,” she says, “but I also enjoyed the mental and creative space that the trip afforded. New York City has this imaginative magic about it.”

She says she spent hours reading and planning for her new class in New York City, which will be open to juniors and seniors.

“As a parent with young children, I don't get many opportunities to push my creative self these days,” Ms. Benoit says, “so I savored this opportunity and feel so grateful.”