2012 brought many changes into the personal and professional life of Jenny! She married her high school sweetheart in the summer of 2012 and moved back "home" to North Carolina! Jenny was named "Teacher of the Year" in her new school building during the 2013-2014 school year. Jenny is living in Gastonia and in her 25th year of teaching kindergarten! She serves as the School Improvement Team chair, Grade Level chair, Social chair, and serves on the superintendents' advisory cabinet. In the winter of 2020, she was awarded the North Carolina Principal Fellows/Transforming Principal Preparation Program at UNCC. She will receive her Master's in School Administration and be moved to a new building as an assistant principal for the 2021-2022 school year. In the spring of 2011, Jenny achieved designation as Ohio Master Teacher - the first one in her school district. She proudly serves many roles on building and district leadership teams. She is also currently serving as an entry-year teacher mentor. She was named American Red Cross Education hero in 2006 and has also been nominated for the Disney Teacher of the Year award twice. Jenny has also been named Wal-Mart teacher of the year twice (in two different counties). She loved serving on commitees and helping others in any capacity! At the time of her award in 2004, Kindergarten teacher Jennifer L. Bruney was engaging students in learning at New Holland Elementary School in New Holland. Jenny Bruney uses one- on-one, small-group and whole-group instruction as well as multi-modality activities to increase student achievement. It is no surprise that students read by the time they finish kindergarten. Recently, Jenny became a mentor for other teachers in the S.T.E.P.S. (Students using Tools to Evaluate Progress for Success) program. She helped implement all-day, everyday kindergarten throughout the district, and has been involved in rewriting the math course of study. An annual speaker at the state of Ohio Kindergarten Conference, she also gives presentations statewide for kindergarten teachers on effective classroom techniques. Jenny serves on various curriculum committees and is president of the Parent Teacher Association.
