Jennie is a former Head Start parent who moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico. She has a B.A. in Business Administration from Universidad del Este in Puerto Rico and two Master’s Degrees; one in Early Childhood Education and the other in Educational Leadership from Boise State University. Jennie is a k-12 Certified Teacher with a Spanish endorsement. She is also a trainee in the Danielson Framework Training, a method used to mentor Teachers in order to learn new and strengthen skills. Jennie has been married to Robert Dowell for 10 years and they have four children; Carl, Carlos, Lydia and Jeremy. She has worked in early childhood education for over 12 years. Before coming to CC Idaho, Jennie worked for Falcon Ridge Public Charter School. There, she taught Spanish to Elementary and Middle School Students, was a WIDA coordinator and Title 1 and ELL student support. Jennie also started an Athletic Program at Falcon Ridge. She worked and still is their Athletic Director and is the Head Coach of the Volleyball and Girls Basketball teams. Before working at Falcon Ridge, Jennie worked at Riverstone International School as a Dual Language (Spanish) Preschool Teacher, was the Head Coach of the Riverstone Volleyball Middle School team, and coordinated the Spanish Immersion after school program, Club Amigos. During the Summer, she traveled with Students, led and coordinated a Spanish, Community Service, and Culture Immersion Trips for them. She has been to Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. While there her group visited, served, and helped orphanages and schools with basic needs. Jennie’s passion has always been working with young children and their families. She also worked at Friends of Children and Families Head Start and Early Head Start (FOCAF). At FOCAF, she worked as an interpreter for the Policy Council, Assistant Teacher, Bus Monitor, Spanish Translator for Family Advocates, and substitute for Family Educators and teachers. She also worked as a Classroom Behavior Management Support. While working at FOCAF, she interviewed Spanish speaking families and wrote a book about Family Involvement; “Involving Mexican-American Families in their children’s education, A Handbook for Early Childhood Educators”. The handbook includes an extended research of the barriers families faced in the U.S. and in Idaho, their cultural values, suggestions for teachers from Hispanic families, and resources for educators in how to involved families in their children’s education. Jennie is very outgoing with a strong love for children and great respect for Teachers. She loves to coach sports, to travel, to watch Netflix and to drink Coffee! She is excited to be part of the great family at CC Idaho family!