Jennifer Bryant has spent nearly two decades helping students overcome life’s challenges, which in her world, includes math.

For many students, especially those who have struggled in the subject before, it is about confidence, perseverance and learning to believe they are capable of more than they think. That is the heart of Jennifer’s work as an eighth-grade pre-algebra teacher at South Sumter Middle School.

“It’s more than just learning math content; it’s proving to yourself that you can do hard things,” she says. “I don’t allow my students to settle for where they’re at; I call them up higher.”

Jennifer is now wrapping up her 19th year in education. Raised in the Bahamas and later Georgia, she says teaching has been part of who she is for as long as she can remember.

“I think a lot of us young girls play dress up and all those things, but I had a classroom and my friends, and I would take turns teaching.”

After graduating from Georgia Southern University, Jennifer moved to Florida and began her teaching career at Bushnell Elementary School, where she spent 16 years teaching fourth- and fifth-grade math and science. For the past three years, she has been teaching pre-algebra at South Sumter Middle School, helping students who often arrive already convinced they are not good at math.

Jennifer works hard to change that mindset. In her classroom, students build math notebooks they can carry with them, collaborate with classmates, use technology and get up and move instead of sitting still too long.

“I strive to help them to gain confidence. And to push through the lows and eventually make it to the highs at the end of that year where they can see that their hard work paid off.”

That steady commitment has not gone unnoticed. Jennifer was named both South Sumter Middle School Teacher of the Year and Sumter County School District Teacher of the Year for 2026-27.

“I encourage my students to collaborate with each other constantly, so not only do they get to learn from me, but they get to learn from their peers, which I think is the greatest impact because they can see and hear it from someone else that’s on their level,” Jennifer says. “It just makes sense, and then for the student that is sharing the information, they deepen their understanding because they have to pretty much do exactly what I’m doing: teach.”

“They have to take the information in, condense it in a way that’s meaningful and understandable for someone else and then share that information so they grow without even thinking about it.”

Outside the classroom, Jennifer was the Head Girls Basketball Coach at South Sumter High School but will be stepping down this year. She also shares another side of herself through music. A worship leader and songwriter, she leads a songwriting club at school where students can explore melodies, lyrics and production while discovering gifts they may not have recognized they have.

Whether she is teaching math or music, Jennifer leads with high expectations and genuine care. She says her greatest reward is watching students begin to believe in themselves and gain enough confidence to speak the answers that are there for the taking if they just trust their instincts and the knowledge they have gained.

“I’m very firm in my classroom and my students know I have high expectations of them, but they also know that I love them and I want the very best for them,” Jennifer says.