Ava De Jonge

651-895-9707 ● avadejonge@gmail.com

EXPERIENCE
Teaching Fellow
Breakthrough Twin Cities | St. Paul, Minnesota June to August 2021
This fellowship is a Grow Your Own program that allowed me to empower and work with a little over 100 middle school
students. During this urban teaching experience, I created and taught a 9th grade writing curriculum for 35 underserved and
underrepresented youth within my community. The curriculum I developed for these students guided them through a six week
journey that encouraged power through reflection and their language. During this time, I also supported and facilitated a
leadership and identity retreat for the 9th grade students.

Civic Engagement and Leadership Presenter

Civic Engagement and Leadership Conference| Winona, Minnesota May 2021
For this conference, two other pre-service educators and I developed professional development for educators and content area
suggestions for the students to engage with in class. The presentation focused on the decolonization of three subject areas: world
language, math, and social studies. Through this presentation, students and educators can be guided to critically reflect on their
own knowledge while also seeking out new knowledge to create empowerment.

Communications Director
Minnesota Council on the Teachings of Languages and Cultures November 2021 to Current
This is a volunteer position where I direct communication operations for a professional development opportunity for world
language educators. Every month, I organize and produce newsletters for world educators to access resources and opportunities
to connect with others while developing content area knowledge. I support the facilitation of a world language conference geared
to develop pedagogy and content area knowledge.

Teacher Intern June to August of 2018 - 2020

The Children’s Farm | Lake Elmo, MN
This position was a full time paid internship during the summer. The days broke up into two classes in the morning there was a
preschool class, and in the afternoon there was a class for older children such as science and history. Each class had three intern
teachers with one volunteer aid. The internship allowed me to learn a new perspective of outdoor teaching using animals and
nature as our classroom. The environment provided an excellent space for our preschool kids to further development such as
gross motor skills when climbing a fence. We were also able to see the older children flourish as trekked through ponds pointing
out bugs in the science class. I was able to create a curriculum for a one week Spanish class for kids ranging in age 8 to 10. This
experience not only expanded my knowledge but deepened my appreciation for education, children, and the outdoors. In the
summer of 2020, I trained four new staff and supported the staff with COVID-19 protocol.

Volunteer Translator 2019

Winona State University | Winona, MN
This experience was a volunteer position through Winona State University where students created a Civic Engagement conference
for students who are underrepresented and underserved in southern Minnesota. I aided in the translation and support of students
who came to the conference to further civic discourse.

Teacher Aid 2012 - 2021

The Children's Farm | Lake Elmo, MN
This opportunity for me was a fall and spring where under the direction of a teacher I helped to assist the class. The classes
consisted of two to four years old children alongside their parents as the main focus was early childhood development. In the
classes, I set up and cleaned up the classes from the direction of the teacher. I also assisted with a majority of the activities simple
or complex. I was able to encourage the children’s growth. When I was not helping with activities, I was either tending to the
animals or preparing for the next activity.

EDUCATION
Stillwater Area High School | General High School Diploma June. 2018
Winona State University | Spanish Teacher Candidate, Bilingual Bicultural Education, Ethnic Studies Expected Dec. 2022
● GPA: 3.68

SKILLS
Heartsaver K-12: Child CPR AED, Infant CPR, First Aid|Declared Bilingual by the State of Minnesota – ACTFL 2018