MIDVALE, UT-2026 marks the 16th year that beloved teacher Jennifer Romney has taught at Hillcrest High. As an English teacher, Mrs. Romney teaches several English-focused classes, which are widely recognized as great classes throughout the school.
Romney did not always want to be a teacher, however. “I actually went into History when I was in college, and I wasn’t always going to be a teacher- I even graduated with my major as History, minor English, I was not going to be a teacher,” said Romney. “It wasn’t until I was working through a few things that I thought ‘You know what, I actually do want to be a teacher’”
Furthermore, Romney initially taught more than just English, teaching history as well. According to Romney, “When I decided to become a teacher I first started teaching both History and English, but then where I really became an English teacher was that after I had my second child I went part-time, and they didn’t have any History openings- only English, and so then I just went into English.”
Being a teacher is not always the easiest job, however. When asked about what might be the hardest aspect of teaching, Romney said that “Sometimes you can have some classes where just the dynamic or the students act out or… they are apathetic, they don’t care, so that can be a challenge.”
Romney does not just teach one level of English, however. Perhaps one of the most popular of the classes she teaches is a pair of concurrent enrollment English courses, known as “English 1010” and “English 2010.” These courses, in some ways, differ from the normal courses- outside of the work being more involved, Romney mentioned that the dynamic in the classes themselves can be different. “I think that the students are just more mature… Those in the college classes are seniors, and they’ve kinda been through school, so they know how to behave, they know what they’re doing,” said Romney. “And the students are awesome, we have good discussions- I really like the college courses.”
Outside of teaching strictly English-focused courses, Romney also teaches a Film course, in which students watch movies and learn about the profession, in addition to writing about different topics in relation to Film. “When I was here- the first go-around- I taught it one year, and it was Film and Literature, which it was called for a long time, but it was very different from what Film class is now. We read books or plays, and then watched the movies.” Romney said. “And then there was a teacher- Mrs. Bullock- who took over the film class and made it more a film appreciation- looking at film techniques, and watching the movies, and not reading any of the literature. And I taught it in 2004, and I know it had been here before that too, so it’s been here for a long time.”
Romney also had some picks for what her favorite movies to teach are. According to Romney, “In my Film 2, what I like and what has surprised me is how much the students like ‘Singing in the Rain’- sometimes students will say ‘we don’t like old movies,’ but I find students really like that movie. And then I’ve also found in Film 1, students really seem to like ‘Dead Poet’s Society’- that always seems to be a favorite.”
Ultimately, Romney is one of the best teachers at Hillcrest High School. Teaching several classes that students love, Romney is an exemplary example of what a good teacher might be like.
