Aryelle Jones is the current teacher of AP Literature, English 4, and Communications here at North. She’s known she has a passion for teaching since her high school and college coaching times. She has been teaching at North High since 2015 and both students and teachers have so many great things to say about her.
Senior William Roehl said, “Although Jones likes to goof around a lot, she does a good job at teaching and is very good when it comes to connecting with her students and assisting with schoolwork.” Similarly, Senior Catherine Bailey said, “You can definitely tell Jones cares about her students. She’s goofy and upbeat but when I’m having a bad day she always makes a point to check in and make sure everything is okay, which means a lot.”
Jones originally went to school at the University of Minnesota for pre-med, then she transferred to NDSU her sophomore year with the intent of teaching as a major, but for science or math. “I thought being a science teacher or math teacher made the most sense ‘cause I was naturally very good at those subjects, but when it came to actually being a teacher I didn’t really want to teach those subjects. I didn’t feel like I would be as enthusiastic in teaching those, while English, I thought that would be a really fun subject to teach. But I think I had more reserves about my own English knowledge as an undergrad so that’s why I was originally hesitant on that one.”
Her favorite thing about teaching is “Hanging out with students. Students are really cool and it’s really fun to see ‘light bulb’ moments or, like, when they get excited about a project. It’s nice because English isn’t a ‘one answer fits all,’ it’s fun to see the different creative answers that you guys come up with.”
Her least favorite thing about teaching? “Emailing parents. I don’t know, I hate sending emails so it’s not my favorite thing. So I feel like I talk to you guys like, ‘You’re missing this, don’t make me email your parents’ it’s not a threat, it’s just I don’t want to.”
So students in her classes or are planning on taking her classes, get your work done on time to spare her from the Evil Email!
Not only does Jones teach three different subjects at North, she also coaches the Fargo North girls softball team. This is her eighth season coaching and she doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon. She enjoys coaching and her players love her as a coach just as much as a teacher. Fargo North graduate Vivian Behm said “She was one of my favorite teachers because of how she didn’t treat us like children and was really relatable so it never felt like she was looking down on us but more as equals, as long as we were acting like adults. Same thing as a coach, she really pushed you to do your best because she wants to see you succeed.”
To add to her commitment to teaching and coaching, Jones also helps run Key Club and Fargo North’s National Honor Society. This is her first year with Key Club and NHS and she is very excited to be a part of them. “I’ve actually wanted to do them for years, but obviously other people were doing them so […] it’s kinda nice to get to do them because they are also like senior students. So it’s nice to see my students more outside of school,” Jones said.
Although Jones is pretty much an open book, there is one thing her students may not know about her. “I spend a lot of my free time playing with legos or playing with power tools. Like, I love to build things. So I’m either building things with legos or I’m woodworking in the garage.”
I bet you didn’t know that! She just built ‘built-in bookshelves’ in her home office and they look even better than what you could buy at the store. Not only is she very creative, but she is also very strong, “I did put my finger in a table saw a few summers ago, my middle finger is a little janky,” said Jones.
Another little fact about Jones is that she has two dogs that she loves very much. “But I love one more than the other,” She said. She has a Husky named Dakota, who she says is “A perfect pretty princess” and her other pup is named Rosko who is “a big doofus”.
Students who have Jones in class all agree that she is a very energetic and funny teacher. I feel as if I can talk to her about anything and she truly understands students, and I know a lot of other students feel the same. To Jones, from all your students, thank you for being an amazing teacher.