"To grow up in the city of Chicago, it is a rite of passage — for every kid to know the lyrics of 'Bear Down, Chicago Bears.'"
In her 30 years as a music educator with Chicago Public Schools, Dr. Jenai Jenkins never anticipated the Chicago Bears' fight song would lead to one of the most exhilarating, magical rewards of her career.
A passionate, beloved music education and band teacher at A.N. Pritzker Elementary School in Wicker Park, Jenkins earned the prestigious Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching last year, which led to her being invited to a Bears preseason game in August.
Although she's lived in Chicago for decades now, Jenkins was born and raised in Cleveland. And though she knew how impactful sports, particularly the Bears, were to Chicago and its culture, it took hearing "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" in a stadium full of energetic fans to truly feel that impact.
"They started playing the 'Bear Down' song after one of the scores, and I was like, 'The song has words?'" Jenkins laughed. "There was another teacher next to me, and she said she liked to teach her first grade class the song. I said, 'I want to do that at my school.' I wanted to use the song as a way to build extra connections with my students."
Jenkins intended to teach the iconic tune to just her older students, but once some of the younger classes found out, they wanted in. She provided all of her students with the music and they took it home to begin learning.
The exercise quickly taught her how a song written all the way back in 1941 could bridge the gap between generations and represent hometown pride.
"The kids come in, they learn songs, we do a little dancing, a little reading," Jenkins said, "but then we talk about the Bears. And we talk about our families in relation to football. The whole year has given me new energy and excitement, just in terms of building additional connections outside of music. It's made everything that we do more fun, more meaningful, and just more exhilarating."
Jenkins' teaching of "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" culminated in her kindergarten, first, second and third grade classes performing the song at the annual winter musical assembly. While Jenkins believed she had orchestrated the ultimate surprise for the student of having Staley Da Bear come to the show and sing the fight song with them, the Bears had something bigger in store for Jenkins herself.
After the kids performed their rendition of the song alongside Staley, Principal Dr. Joenile S. Albert-Reese took a moment on stage to express her gratitude for Jenkins' work, then surprised her with the Bears' Classroom Legends award, powered by CDW, which honors educators who go above and beyond to support their students and build inclusive, inspiring school communities across Chicagoland.
When Jenkins was announced as a Classroom Legends winner, the room full of children, parents, and fellow staff members exploded as she jumped up and down and cheered in celebration.
"I was so excited that this happened to such a deserving educator," Albert-Reese said. "She is absolutely a hard worker, a team player, and she leads with her heart. She goes over and above. She is at the height of her space and she is just exploding. And I love to see it.
"I remember when I hired her, she thought she may not be the best fit for the job. I was like, 'No, no, no, no, no, you have potential.' And we have been nurturing that and moving that, and she's just taking off. I am so proud of her."
Jenkins experienced a whirlwind of emotions as she stepped back on the stage to accept the award, which includes a $1,000 grant for her classroom as well as a custom Bears jersey, football and more.
Having Staley and the Bears at the school to not only help deliver the surprise, but also show the students the team is supporting their education, just as the students are supporting the team, was a powerful moment for Jenkins and Albert-Reese.
"The Bears are the city's sports team," Albert-Reese said. "Everybody is a football fan. Even if you don't like football, football is happening in your house. And you're rooting for the Bears. So to have that in the classrooms and have children recognizing, this is who we are, it gives them a sense of pride, a sense of belonging.
"So it extends beyond the walls of the school, and if you are truly to nurture a well-rounded child, you have to integrate those arts. You have to integrate the community. You have to integrate the city, because this is where we live."
The Classroom Legends program, which launched in 2010, aims to provide educators and their students with that genuine connection to the Bears while also celebrating the value of good, quality education. Anyone from family to friends to fellow educators can submit a nomination for the honor.
In Dr. Jenkins' case, it was her colleague and kindergarten teacher Allison Soldner that pulled together the nomination. Upon learning of the Classroom Legends program from a student's parent, Soldner knew Jenkins would be a perfect candidate for the honor after having worked with the longtime music teacher for 11 years. Soldner sent an email out to staff members around the school encouraging them to contribute to the submission, and was overwhelmed, but not shocked, by the amount of responses and support.
"Whether it was a couple sentences or two pages, people went all out with words of praise for her," Soldner said. "Everyone knows how hard she works, and how much the kids love her. The school performance is just one tiny part of the insane amount of stuff she does. She runs the band, she runs after school programs, and she puts on a school play every year that is literally one of the most beautiful things I've seen for little kids to put on.
"She teaches classes every day to kindergarten through eighth grade, and she comes up with unique ideas and she ties in the arts. Pritzker would be a different place without her, truly, because we are a performing arts school, so it's very important to have people that are dedicated to tying in the arts to the kids' education, and she really does that.
"She's beyond worthy of this."
To nominate an educator for the Bears' Classroom Legends award, click here.
Jenkins was also honored at last Saturday's Bears-Packers game alongside fellow Classroom Legends winner and assistant principal of SPC Daniel Zizumbo Elementary School Melissa Santos, and is one the 16 award winners this season. Each winner receives two tickets to a Bears game as well as pregame field access.
"Realizing that the Bears support education to this degree was enlightening for me," Jenkins said. "Realizing that people who are so famous and so in the limelight would think about us as teachers, it's very encouraging. It's also very humbling, because you often don't think that people would think about us. This whole experience is invigorating.
"I'm just really exhilarated to have experienced this in front of all the little students and to see their excitement with me. It is just — I don't even have words. It's just so exciting. So exciting, so encouraging, so exhilarating. It's beyond words."
