Jana Smith

Hello!  My name is Jana Smith.  I currently work as a special education teacher in the Jefferson Parish School District at Bonnabel Magnet Academy High School in Kenner, Louisiana. My belief is that communication barriers between non-verbal individuals can change through active learning.  That is why I chose to study American Sign Language at Delgado Community College in 1998 where I later earned my Bachelor of Science degree in ASL Studies from William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri (online) in 2016. 

Military life is what brought me to New Orleans in 1982, originally, where we were stationed on the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. This is where I met a deaf friend, Christy, who also lived on the base. Our fathers worked together in the Navy and my mom used to babysit her. Our moms became best friends and we would take turns bbqing at each other’s house on the weekends.  We got to run and play at the park in the backyard and our parents would play board games together. 

Ten years later, in 1992, my father got orders to come back for a second tour to NOLA.  This time we were stationed on the Naval Support Activity Base in Algiers, Louisiana (4-5 years).  When we first arrived we rented a house next door to my mom’s best friend, for 9 months in Gretna, Louisiana, until military housing became available. Christy and I got to be neighbors again and I was so excited to have my friend back! My parents ended up buying a house in Algiers where my dad officially retired from the Navy.

In 2017, I was hired as an interpreter at Hazel Park Elementary School in Harrahan, Louisiana.  Once school ended, I worked for Catholic Charities as an interpreter for a few months until a position came open for a Deaf/HH Teacher.  I applied, interviewed and accepted a position for a Special Education Teacher role at East Jefferson High School working with the Deaf/HH population while earning my Masters in Special Education from Grand Canyon University (online) in 2019. 

During Covid-19, all of our lives changed, and our school became hybrid, meaning that students would come to school ½ of the time and stay at home ½ of the time for virtual online learning.  We had to adapt to a new way of learning using technology to include Google Classroom (live). At one point, there were co-pilot programs and I went to be a co-teacher at a few different schools: Allen Ellender School, Belle Chasse High School, and Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy where I gained a wealth of knowledge.

Jana Smith, M.Ed

Special Education Teacher

M. Ed in Special Education

Interpretation for the Deaf, B.S.