Some educators teach lessons. Others create experiences that leave a lasting impact.
At Splendora ISD, Christina Kinard and Jessica Brent are finding creative ways to prepare students for life beyond the classroom. While one is using a now-beloved elephant puppet to teach social-emotional skills to elementary students and the other is guiding high school students through the process of launching real-world business ventures, both share a common goal—to help young people develop the confidence, communication skills, and resilience needed to succeed.
The lessons taught by Jessica and Christina are helping shape the next generation.
Jessica Brent
When Jessica Brent became a school counselor, she knew she wanted to do more than help students navigate challenges—she wanted to connect with them in a meaningful way.
A former science teacher, Brent loved showing students how science exists in everyday life. But what she enjoyed most was helping them on an emotional level. That passion ultimately led her to become an elementary school counselor, where she now serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
In late 2024, Jessica had been speaking with the school’s assistant principal, discussing ways they could build their own SEL (social emotional learning) program, and she recalled a professional conference she had recently attended. The conference had been focused on reaching younger learners, and Jessica had attended a session about using puppets to engage children. The conversation soon evolved into something much bigger: a weekly social-emotional learning video series starring an elephant puppet they decided to name MASEL.
The name was born from the phrase “Moment of Awareness Social Emotional Learning,” while the elephant mascot symbolized the weight of emotions and the importance of addressing the “elephant in the room.”
In January 2025, Mondays With MASEL officially launched.
Every Monday, students watch a short video introducing a social-emotional topic such as gratitude, patience, bullying prevention, and communication. Jessica writes and films every episode herself, often spending several hours of personal time each weekend producing fresh content. Her husband, she says, helps tremendously with the editing.
The effort has paid off. Students eagerly anticipate each new episode, often stopping by Jessica’s office to say hello to MASEL. The beloved puppet has become a unifying presence across campus, creating what she describes as a culture of tenderness and connection.
“There's a lot of love towards this puppet,” she says. “I have kids coming into my office all the time, wanting to say hi to her, give her a little kiss on the trunk—even the fifth graders. She's beloved to them, as well. To see this softness across campus, everybody coming together to love this singular thing, is really sweet.”
Beyond just the tenderness, MASEL's teaching impact has been measurable. Jessica notes that counselor referrals and behavioral referrals both dropped significantly during the program’s first full year.
For Jessica, the success of Mondays With MASEL is about more than a puppet show. It’s about helping children learn how to communicate, regulate emotions, and navigate life’s challenges, she says.
“I truly love what I do,” she says.
And through MASEL, that passion is reaching an entire campus—one Monday at a time.
Jessica and her husband are also sharing MASEL’s lessons globally via a YouTube channel they launched.
Christina Kinard
For Christina Kinard, education is about far more than textbooks and test scores. As the entrepreneurial educator at Splendora ISD, she is helping students develop the confidence, communication skills, and problem-solving abilities they need to succeed long after graduation.
A 2010 graduate of Splendora High School, Christina returned to her hometown to make a difference in the lives of local students. Now in her 10th year as an educator, she teaches accounting and entrepreneurship at Splendora High School, bringing real-world business experience to the classroom after previously working as a sales tax administrator.
Christina oversees the district’s entrepreneurship program through Uncharted Learning’s INCubatoredu entrepreneurship course, where students learn how to identify everyday problems and develop innovative solutions. The process begins with what she calls a “bug me list,” encouraging students to pay attention to frustrations they encounter in daily life and brainstorm ways to solve them.
From there, students build businesses from the ground up that address those solutions. They conduct research, interview potential customers, develop financial plans, create prototypes, and present their ideas to community mentors and investors. Throughout the year, local business owners volunteer their time to guide students, providing invaluable insight and feedback. At the end, they present their business model “all the way down to an asking amount.” One team is then funded money, and the winning team goes on to pitch their idea in a more nationwide competition. Last school year, the winner of the national pitch in Chicago was funded $17,000 to continue their start up.
Under Christina’s leadership, students have developed a variety of creative ventures, including a job-search platform designed specifically for teens and young adults, a battery-powered tracking device to help locate misplaced items, and a family-focused app that gamifies household chores for children.
While entrepreneurship is at the heart of the program, Christina believes its greatest value extends beyond business creation.
“These students are learning how to communicate, solve problems, write professional emails, present ideas, and adapt when things don’t go as planned,” she says.
As a mother of two, Kinard is passionate about modeling perseverance and resilience. Through her guidance, students gain more than entrepreneurial knowledge—they learn life skills that will serve them wherever their future paths may lead.