When Wendy (Rabou) Jacoby ’92 looks back on her 25-year teaching career, what stands out most is not a single grade level, state or school, but the belief that education should be a creative endeavor that broadens students’ horizons. From inner-city Kansas City to Wyoming and New England, Jacoby followed both her calling and her family, shaping young learners wherever she landed.
Now retired with her husband Jeff Jacoby ‘91 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Jacoby grew up in Wyoming, where she heard the call to teach at an early age.
“I remember propping up my dolls on a sewing table and teaching them. My brother, cousin and I would play school, and I always wanted to be the teacher,” she said. “Growing up on a farm and ranch, I even tried to teach the cows when they walked up to the fence.”
Her interests led her to Hastings College, where one of her first professors, Dr. Ladd Cochrane, made an impression she carried for decades: “He told us, ‘If you’re in it for the money, get out, because you have to love to do this.’”
And love it, she did. “Every year I had a new group of kids. Every year was different,” she said.
Lessons learned in the field
At Hastings College, Jacoby and her fellow education majors were immersed in K-12 classrooms early on.
“Right from our freshman year, we had education courses. Sophomore year, we were out observing elementary, middle and high schools. Junior year, we were actually starting to work with kids,” she said.
A defining experience came when professor Jan Watkins took the teacher education students to Kansas City, Kansas, on a multi-cultural education trip. The group visited inner-city schools and churches and even grocery stores in poor and wealthy neighborhoods to experience the class divide.
Intrigued by the experience, Jacoby chose to student teach in Kansas City through the Cooperative Urban Teacher Education program, which provided placement in an inner-city school and housing. The contrast with her rural upbringing was stark.
“It was eye-opening,” she said. “I grew up in a farming community of 110 people, and suddenly I was in an open-concept school with no walls and a diverse student population.”
That experience later helped her secure a position at Swanson Elementary in Omaha. “They chose me because of my experience in the inner-city school,” Jacoby said.
Other college courses sparked her passion for experiential learning. She drew inspiration from faculty like Gilbert Adrian who took her biology class to the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma.
“I remember walking through a field with him, and he knew the scientific name of every plant. He even told me I could eat one of the flowers,” she said with a laugh.
Equally formative were lessons learned from professors who challenged her. In a language arts education course with Dr. Jeanene Haldeman, Jacoby earned a B after spending more of her time on a difficult philosophy course.
“Professor Haldeman told me, ‘I know you could have done better.’ That was the best lesson ever as a teacher because I learned I can’t compare one student to another in terms of their work or abilities,” she said. “I have to compare the students to themselves.”
Adapting and creating
Jacoby’s teaching career spanned several states, shaped in part by her husband, who worked in the funeral home business. After several years in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the couple moved to Berlin, New Hampshire, where Jacoby walked into a Catholic school looking for a preschool for her daughter, and walked out with a fifth-grade job offer.
“I had an interview right then and there with my daughter in tow,” she said.
Over 12 years in Berlin and, later, Colebrook, New Hampshire, Jacoby taught multiple grades, using her liberal arts background to fuel her creativity. She took her fifth-graders to Plymouth, Massachusetts, to see the full-scale reproduction of the Mayflower and organized an Underground Railroad simulation through school hallways.
Jacoby also sought out new methods when she felt students weren’t getting what they needed. While teaching in a school that relied heavily on basal reading, she attended a guided reading workshop on her own.
“I decided to use a guided reading approach where I was working with different groups on the skills they needed to learn,” she said. “It was a new way of doing things.”
Wanting to be closer to family, the Jacobys returned to Cheyenne, where she taught another 13 years, navigating every grade from kindergarten through sixth.
Jacoby retired to Myrtle Beach in 2023 and now spends her time scrapbooking, visiting daughters Madeline and Abigail and daughter-in-law Laura, and supporting current teachers through Alpha Delta Kappa women’s education sorority. An avid runner, she’s completed six marathons and numerous races, including a 15K last summer in Versailles, France.
Thinking back to her years in the classroom, Jacoby is certain she chose the right path.
“In teaching, you help children grow educationally and emotionally. If you love working with children, you can’t have a more rewarding career,” she said.