Velocity - Magazine - Page 15
JURGENS LEARNS AND
TEACHES TRUST
by Damon Bennett
Amy Jurgens knows a thing or two about starting over. As director of the Entrepreneurship
Center at Southeast Community College, she teaches people how they can take an idea and turn
it into a business. That’s what brought her to teaching students in the UPWARD program.
“I remember getting an email
means showing them she is there
from Amy Doty asking for faculty
to provide a safe place for them to
members who were interested in
learn and express their ideas freely.
this new program,” Jurgens said.
“The classes took place in a carceral
setting, and I just thought I would
give it a shot.”
The impact is noticeable. Jurgens
once had a student that would often
be late to class, and would always
sit in the back. Then, two weeks
Jurgens’ first class she taught
into class, he began sitting at the
in the program was at the work
front of the room, and he never
release center, which was also her
stopped asking questions.
first time teaching that class in
person. She was nervous about
transitioning the class from
an online format to in-person,
as she wanted to make sure to
provide her students with the best
education possible.
“It was great for me to have this
as my first experience because
these are students who are just one
step away from re-entry into their
community,” said Jurgens. “So, I felt
a real responsibility to teach them
all I could about entrepreneurship,
so when they were released into
“That’s trust,” Jurgens said. “He
had to understand if he could trust
me in that setting, and when he
figured that out, he was open to the
material I was teaching.”
Jurgens has had students tell
her about the impact they see
in their lives and their fellow
students. Students that didn’t have
great outlooks when they started
the program were beginning to
show signs of hope as they took
more classes.
“I’ve always believed education
their community, they could
can change your life,” Jurgens said.
start their own business if they
“I think we all, as educators, believe
wanted to.”
that. In this area, you see it
Trust is one of the most
important parts of the job for
Jurgens. She knows that some
of these students have traumas
she doesn’t understand. For her,
building trust with the students
firsthand. It doesn’t take years to
see it; it takes a semester to see it.
We’re not about instant
gratification as educators, but you
can immediately see the impact you
have on a student just by showing
up and teaching them.”
The
Instructors
June 2026
13
