Ms. Jeannette Sawaya has had an incredible and long-lasting impact on the lives of students at Judge Memorial for over 40 years. The first semester of the 25-26 school year marks the end of her irreplaceable 42-year-long career here on campus. In addition to serving as the current director of college counseling, Sawaya is also a member of the Utah Teacher Accreditation State Board, as well as the Salt Lake City Arts Council.
Before her work helping students such as myself get into colleges all across the country, Sawaya was Judge Memorial’s one and only Dance Company Coach. When speaking about her time as the dance coach, she says it was one of her favorite roles she has played at Judge for the fact that “I was with students many times more than the students were even with their families.”
To put in perspective the amount of love and passion she has for her students, she says, “I would be with those students from 6:30 in the morning at drill practice, and then we would have dance concert practice after school till 5:00 at night.” These are just some of the things that demonstrate her commitment and passion to what she was doing for so many students around the building.
During her service to the school’s dance company, Sawaya then gave a great portion of her time to teaching one of her hobbies in yoga, to students who showed interest. She had many responsibilities on campus, including taking on the job teaching yoga, “which became this sort of finding balance role. And that was always really awesome.” Sawaya indeed found a way to balance, as in 1997 she was named “Dance Educator of the Year” by the Utah Association of Health.
When asked, Jeanette remembered when the auditorium was first built in the late ‘80s. Although she recalls her favorite memory, describing a moment where a student had come in after receiving her help applying for college and asked Sawaya, “Am I going to college?” She replied, “Yes, sir, you are. And he was just jumping for joy.” Sharing that excitement with a student was the reason she did what she did.
Jeanette Sawaya is truly an incredible educator and an even more incredible person, who has served as a cornerstone in this Judge community. From college counseling to dance or even yoga, Saywa serves as a great role model for those who want to pursue a life of servitude, able to gain satisfaction through helping the success of a younger generation of Judge Memorial students.
