Jessica Dodge joined the MCHS staff at the beginning of the 2025 school year to teach various classes in the English department. Though now working as a teacher, Dodge spent several years working in finance and hospitality. Her unique background now helps her in the classroom.
Dodge graduated from Mason City High School in 1999. She attended college to become a teacher, but after working briefly at a school in college, she decided that teaching might not be for her. “I just totally changed my mind,” she said.
After graduating from the University of Iowa with a business degree, she moved to Chicago and discovered a job in finance with Morgan Stanley financial services firm. However, after a few years there, she decided to move home to Mason City. “Chicago wasn’t really my spot,” she said with a laugh.
Back in Mason City, she was hired as a corporate event planner. “I got to travel and do lots of really fun things,” she said. “But then I realized that I was never around and I wanted to have a family.”
Dodge decided to go back to school to get a degree to become a teacher. “It was always in the back of my mind that maybe this is what I should be doing,” she said.
Armed with a teaching degree, Dodge began teaching at West Fork Community School District, where she taught for eight years before applying at MCHS. She was hired in the spring of 2025 and now teaches Honors 9 English, English 10, and Creative Writing.
Dodge has found that her background in hospitality has helped her in the classroom. “With event planning, it’s a very busy, fast-paced environment,” she said. “You’re always learning people’s attitudes and how to react to them and how to adjust to make sure they’re having a good time.”
“In school I feel like I can adjust and help students in that way too,” she added.
Back at her alma mater, Dodge draws inspiration from her fellow teachers in the classroom. “I feel like I’ve transitioned to looking more at coworkers as mentors and people to look to for answers and questions, [like] things that they do and how they treat their classroom.”
After a long road to get here, Dodge is happily settled into her career behind the teacher’s desk. “I love being here and I hope that [students] love being here,” she said. “I hope that when they take my class they enjoy it.”
