Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessalyn Burden.
Hi Jessalyn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Absolutely! I would love to share more about my story.
I didn’t always know what I wanted to do. I wasn’t that child who knew at a young age exactly what I wanted to dedicate the rest of my life to. My life wasn’t what most would call normal. My family moved overseas to Romania when I was 10, and I, along with my 4 younger siblings, were homeschooled through grade 12.
Helping my mom homeschool my siblings made me so much more aware of what parents had to go through, especially those of children with learning disabilities. I realized that there must be so many other families going through the struggles that my parents went through while navigating homeschooling 5 different types of learners without much help. I wanted to make sure that parents just like this had the tools and resources available to them to give their children exactly what they needed.
In 2016, I moved back to the United States for college and went on to graduate in the middle of the pandemic. 2020 was an incredibly difficult and mentally taxing year as a first-time Special Education Teacher, but I am infinitely stronger for it. At the end of that school year, my husband received a job offer in South Florida, and we moved that summer. After one interview, I was immediately hired as a teacher for children with learning disabilities at an elementary school.
In February 2022, my husband and I began talking about our future. He reminded me of my dream to help struggling children away from the public school setting and that now could be the perfect time to do just that.
In March, I sat down with the principals at the school and explained my decision to move forward on my own to provide the expansive, customized education I believe these children require. They were so understanding and wished me well.
There was a lot of work to do in such a short time before the beginning of the new school year. I knew that parents would be scrambling to get their children ready, especially with nearly a year of education and foundational skills lost for most. I knew that I had to be as prepared as possible for them.
In August, I was able to help my first child before the school year even began!
Inspired Tutors makes it possible for young children to receive quality teaching wherever they are at, with whatever foundational skill they are struggling with, and with whatever learning disability or challenges they may have.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Wow, was it a smooth road? I don’t think anyone can ever say that leaving the comfort or stability of their job to start off on their own is smooth or easy. It is definitely exciting but also incredibly uncertain. Having a supportive husband through this entire process made it much easier. Helping these young children and earning the trust of their parents had to be the first priority for all of us to work together and be successful.
How easy is that?
Growing up, I witnessed my mom struggle to find the best ways to teach all 5 of her children. We were all different kinds of learners, and on top of that, my brothers were diagnosed with ADD/ADHD as well as dyslexia at a young age. The way that my mom taught me didn’t work for them. She was forced to do her own research until she found what worked best, and even then, it was a continuous learning process.
When I decided to study education before starting my own business, I knew there had to be so many people out there just like my mom who were feeling insufficient or inferior about whether or not they homeschooled their children or chose a conventional education route.
Working as a Florida educator, I was lucky to work with a great team of people; however, there weren’t enough teachers to provide an adequate education for every student. I saw firsthand that these children, in their developmental years, were not getting what they needed. In light of recent events that occurred over these last few years, so many children lost out on these foundational skills at such an influential age, leaving many significantly behind. The primary reason why I choose to work with young children is because proper education at an early age significantly impacts the rest of their lives.
Was it a smooth road? No. Were there some struggles? Yes! I wouldn’t have it any other way.
These experiences brought me to where I am today with a passion and a mission that enables students to get the education they deserve by working with Inspired Tutors.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Inspired Tutors LLC?
Since I was homeschooled my entire life and never actually set foot in an American public school until student teaching, I had no idea what to expect. As a public-school teacher, there were a multitude of responsibilities, and only about a fraction were actually applying interventions to my students.
However, during that short amount of time that we worked together, we were able to get to the root of what they were struggling with and help begin to make small steps towards where they needed to be. It wasn’t about writing fancy lesson plans or having the students complete worksheets. Getting to know who the students really are and where they have their struggles enables me to incorporate a customized interactive lesson or even a game that enables them to show significant growth and retention.
Just because a student is in 5th grade does not mean that we work on 5th-grade material. Assessing where these children are is imperative to determine where we need to start. For example, if a student is reading at a 1st-grade level, but is in a higher grade, then that is where we start. Growth is growth, and every student is going to grow at a different pace and in a different way.
Being a tutor versus a public-school teacher means that I have the flexibility to give the children what they need, how they need it, and as long as they need it. I get to use my heart for children to make a difference in the lives of families everywhere.
I believe the children, and their parents, needed something different, something better. This is why I chose to leave the stability of a career as a teacher, become an entrepreneur, and create Inspired Tutors to impact the lives of today’s children to secure the quality education of our future leaders.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
If you know someone who has a child that is struggling, join me in this mission and tell them about Inspired Tutors!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.inspiredtutors.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspiredtutors/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspiredTutoring/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Inspiredtutors
