Class of '20

When Clayton Jaskinia graduated from Texas A&M University-San Antonio in May 2020, eager to begin his career with the Edgewood ISD, he encountered a disrupted academic environment.

“Yes, “t was a tough time,” he acknowledges. “We started out fully remote which meant adjusting to the technology involved with teaching online.” Undaunted, Clayton found a novel way to engage his seventh-grade Texas history students. He began driving around the state creating virtual tours to literally bring Texas history them.

When the district transitioned to half the class being taught in person and the other half receiving instruction online, the challenges increased. “Now we were being tasked to engage both in-class students and online students.” That meant designing assignments and projects for two different learning environments. One example of the clever ways Clayton adapted was to have the in-class students create a model train boom town, where each child was responsible for a part of the town and asked to write an explanatory note for each car as if it were a museum display. The online students had to create theirs either by drawing it or using the video game Minecraft. Clayton’s creativity and willingness to go above and beyond prompted the State Association of Texas Pioneers to honor Clayton as Educator of the Year in his first year of teaching. His efforts were again recognized when he received the E.T. Wrenn Teacher of the Year award for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Originally from Kosciusko, Texas, the young teacher says he draws inspiration from his grandparents who were not afforded the opportunity to have an education. One left school at age five to work in the onion fields and another went back to school at age 54 with children still at home and a restaurant to run. “I wanted to become a teacher so maybe I could become the kind of person who makes kids want to come to school every day and be a fighter for them,” he says.

 Clayton’s leadership abilities surfaced prominently at A&M-SA where he served as president of NSLS, Student Government Speaker of the Senate and Senator for the College of Education and Development. He also was “founding father” of the Delta Chi fraternity, president of the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Council, and lead Jaguar ambassador.

Currently, in his fourth year of teaching U.S. history to eighth graders, Clayton expects to earn a master’s in curriculum and instruction (C&I) this December, noting, “I look forward to becoming a district social studies specialist one day.” Not one to rest on his early success, Clayton is also exploring options for a Ph.D.  program. While most of his time is devoted to teaching and pursuing his personal goals, he does take time out for spending time with friends and family and serving as alumni board president for the San Antonio chapter of Delta Chi.

Meanwhile, his primary focus is helping the many students who fell behind during the pandemic disruptions. “We work hard to close the gaps in understanding and try to reconnect to students in a tech focused world.”