Studies Weekly Spotlight: Kelly Jeffery

We want to be the strongest standards-based social studies and science curriculum out there, so we’re upping our game.

Let us introduce you to one of our powerhouse employees.

Kelly Jeffery

Kelly Jeffery, Director of Curriculum Over ELA

Kelly Jeffery is our new director of curriculum over ELA. She comes to Studies Weekly with 20 years of teaching experience, both as a teacher and as an instructional coach. She’s absolutely passionate about literacy, and loves the way integrated learning can promote it.

“I’m hoping to get teachers to look at content through the eyes of being able to use it for literacy. There is so much you can do with social studies and science to get them engaged, and then you sneak in the literacy skills,” she said. Social studies, science, the arts – those are the gateways into reading.”

An example of this comes from her own experience. She remembers coaching a teacher with one boy who didn’t even want to come to school. When he did attend, he resisted participating. The teacher she was coaching engaged him through some hands-on STEM lessons, and that work hooked him into reading.

“In order to complete the activities, you have to read directions, or do research. That got him into reading,” she said. “Now he tells everybody, ‘You don’t want to miss school.’ And now he reads on his own. And it all started with purposeful reading.”

Jeffery started the ground running, (and sometimes dancing) as soon as she joined Studies Weekly this summer, and is diligently working to align and correlate our social studies and science with ELA learning strategies.

When she’s not getting people excited about reading, she enjoys landscape photography, watching movies with her family, and curling up with a nice thick research book.