Among the newest staff members at Cinnaminson High School this year is Mr. Brian Jenkins, brother of math teacher Bret Jenkins. As one of two new additions to the Special Education department, Jenkins teaches study skills, math, and English.
Brian Jenkins expressed that his brother Bret, who has been teaching at CHS for the last 18 years, inspired him to be a teacher.
“I didn’t start out as a teacher, and he’s kind of the reason I am a teacher,” Brian Jenkins said. “So it’s certainly interesting because I would have never guessed in a million years we’d worked in the same place because I would have never guessed I’d be a teacher. So, I mean, it’s fun because, you know, it’s my whole life. So it’s nice to have somebody who I can lean on.”
Prior to his transfer to CHS, Brian Jenkins taught at Delran High School while coaching junior varsity football for Cinnaminson for the past two years.
Due to the rivalry between Cinnaminson and Delran football, Jenkins said he found it challenging to be teaching and coaching at both schools.
“That was very difficult because I heard a lot in the hallways during game week,” Jenkins said. “That made it very difficult to deal with. So it was really great when we won, especially last year. That was probably the biggest smile I had on my face all year when I walked in the school.”
Before his teaching career, Jenkins graduated from Lenape High School where he played both football and baseball. He went on to play baseball in college, but ultimately that was cut short due to an injury.
“I went to Stockton for baseball, but I got injured my freshman year,” Jenkins said.
Although the injury prevented him from continuing his athletic career, he still enjoys playing sports for fun, including flag football and Sunday morning softball.
While Jenkins has been teaching for the last seven years, it was not his first job pursuit.
“So I always wanted to be a teacher, but I chased money for the beginning of my life,” Jenkins said. “And then my best friend in the world passed away, and it changed my perspective on everything because he was extremely healthy and passed away completely sudden. And I decided to stop chasing money and do what I wanted – [what] I loved.”
Jenkins said one of his favorite parts about becoming a teacher is the connections he is able to make with students over the course of their time in high school.
“Connections with kids – obviously, it’s nice to teach everything but, you know, getting to know people, seeing them grow as humans, you know from freshman year to senior year and then even afterwards, and maintaining those relationships, I think is by far the best part about teaching,” Jenkins said.
On the other hand, Jenkins acknowledges that while he enjoys making connections, not everyone is receptive to it. While he likes math, he said he knows not every student has the same interest in math as him.
“I would say the hardest part of teaching is trying to reach somebody that doesn’t want to be reached,” Jenkins said. “Because some people think, you know, some people hate math. They don’t want to be in math and they don’t want to deal with it. So I’ve tried to reach people that really don’t want to be reached.”
Jenkins said he is intrigued by the study skills classes as well as Smart Lunch that CHS offers students.
“Because that’s something that not a lot of schools have. So I think that’s certainly interesting,” Jenkins said. “And then I’d say the Smart Lunch because I’ve never worked in a place where everybody had different kinds of lunches at the same time. So kind of let you do a lot of different things, clubs and stuff so you don’t have to do after school.”
As a Pirate now both in and outside of the classroom, Jenkins is determined to win.
“I want to win a state championship in football,” Jenkins said about his goals.
