Jenny Herre, History Department Chair and 6th grade social studies teacher at Alexandria Country Day School, was named the private school recipient of the Washington Post's Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award for 2002, on April 2.
Herre has been teaching at Alexandria Country Day School since 1987, taking a year's sabbatical in 1999-2000 to write a book, among other things. She has traveled to 45 countries and has three children, all of whom were born on different continents. As a youngster she lived in Switzerland, and her peripatetic nature was further stimulated during a stint in the Peace Corps in Turkey. She has lived in Beirut, Lebanon, Delhi, India, and Curitiba, Brazil, and now resides in Old Town.
Herre is known for her exciting methods and consistently fresh approach to teaching. She focuses on the values of the world's great religions as a jumping-off point for an in-depth study of human history, culture, mores, food, art, music, and architecture. The program emphasizes the nature and importance of basic values and their relation to the controlling ideas of a religion and its culture. Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Medieval Christianity are studied through simulations, field experiences, and films. Literature and art are intertwined and coordinated in the 6th grade curriculum to enhance and strengthen the foundations being laid in her social studies class.