Most students graduate graduate high school and never step foot on campus again. But for alumni who become educators, they find themselves working in their old high school a decades after graduating. This is exactly what happened for exceptional education teacher Jessica Renehan, when COVID led her back to Deep Run after she graduated in 2013.
Renehan attended as a student from 2009 to 2013. Her original plans were like many graduates: to move far away from home and school.
“The plan was to move to California, but obviously I didn’t make it that far,” Renehan said.
One of the biggest factors that led Renehan back to Henrico was the pandemic.
“The pandemic changed a lot of my plans. I was living in Central America with the idea of moving out West. However, once Covid hit it made more sense to move close to family, and here I am,” Renehan said.
When she returned to Henrico, Renehan immediately looked into getting a job here at the school.
“During the pandemic, I moved back to Richmond and started looking for teaching jobs. I knew a lot of the people here, and it seemed like a good fit,” Renehan said.
There have been many changes at the school that most current students don’t realize.
“The school has a lot more students now than when I was in school,” Renehan said. “Iphones were relatively new, too, so that’s very different. Now, everyone is on their phones all the time, and there’s not as much social interaction.”
Not only were there fewer students, but there were also differences in other areas such as the dress code, the class schedule, and Deep Run’s notorious One Lunch.
“We had a super strict dress code and no One Lunch. Our schedule was also different; every Monday we had all seven classes back to back, and then we rotated in the block schedule Tuesdays through Fridays,” Renehan said.
However, there are still some aspects of the school experience that have remained the same, especially in the ways that Renehan got involved in school sports and extracurriculars and spent time with friends.
“I was on the soccer team, so that took a lot of time and was fun. I also ran cross country and did indoor track, so there were lots of sports,” Renehan said. “My friends and I liked to go to the football games and school dances. I did the morning announcements and got involved with Best Buddies. One of my favorite things to do was laps in the morning with my friend. We would walk around the school before class started to say hi to our friends.”
Since returning, Renehan said it has been a rewarding but strange experience.
“It can be super weird to have your old teachers be your new coworkers, but it’s also nice to know how the school works and understand the culture here,” Renehan said.
Like many students, she had favorite teachers that made a large impact on her.
“I loved a lot of my teachers, especially my English teachers. Shout out to Mrs. Oliver, Mr. Harrell, Ms. Kessinger, and Sr. Gouldthorpe, who are still here; they were incredible. They always pushed me and my classmates to do our best and made class fun,” Renehan said.
Even with the change of life plans, she is still happy to be where she is.
“I have really loved and appreciated my time at Deep Run. It is fun to be back and work with students who are living in the same community that I did,” Renehan said.
Speaking of that same community, Renehan has some alumni advice for current students.
“It is very important to get out of the Deep Run bubble. We get very sucked into what is going on at Deep Run, and forget that there are more people and things outside of this area. It’s great to get involved, give back, and meet new people,” Renehan said.
