Hi everyone,

I’m really pleased and excited to announce that not only did I manage to give my first two papers at the Classical Association Conference this year, in Swansea, but that I was the recipient of the 2022 Classical Association ‘Innovative Pedagogy’ Award!

The Chair of the Teaching Board, Dr Sharon Marshall, honoured me with this speech, made from suggestions my nominators had made:

“She is the recipient of our Innovative Pedagogy award. She will I’m sure be well known to you all, not just as a teacher and educator, but also as a comic artist and illustrator… her Greek Myth Comix website hosts resources which are innovative and engaging, and they’re used by thousands of students, teachers and high-schoolers around the world.  Her illustrations for the Amarantus project bring the ancient world to life, and in 2020 she developed a new coloured artistic style in response to research that showed that students may not realise the diverse reality of the ancient world when working with black and white images.  Her ‘Ancient Geek’ podcast deals with controversial issues brilliantly. She’s also a member of the Editorial Board or Asterion, representing Neurodiversity in Classics, by talking about her own dyscalculia, and creating resources to help neurodivergent pupils. In the words of her nominations, she is ‘dearly loved’ in the online Classics community for her kindness and generosity, and her outstanding creativity. Many Classics teachers today started out by going to her for advice and resources, and her generosity of spirit is also exemplifies by the act of sharing her entire archive of GCSE resources for free online. These have been accessed by over 200 users, and she has tirelessly provided support to them, having identified that home-educated students are under-supported by traditional schemes. She has made a huge impact while innovating and responding to the ever-changing needs and interests of the student body… She is a very deserving winner.

To celebrate, I’ve opened a Comix Requests page on the site – just pop what you’d like to see in the comments! I’ve also got a new project coming out soon – stay tuned for some special new things and offers!

I’m absolutely the most proud and honoured person right now. Thank you so much to everyone who nominated me, and to everyone who has supported me making resources for students around the world for the last eight years!

Jenks x