McKay’s activity director keeps Salem’s largest school humming

Ahead of the 2025 Crystal Apple Awards for outstanding educators on May 29, Salem Reporter is profiling several of the 101 nominees. The awards are presented by the McLaran Leadership Foundation and the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce at the Salem Convention Center. Tickets are sold out, though viewing room tickets are available for $25.

Over her afternoon prep period, more than a dozen students stopped by Jenise Flower’s classroom.

A trio wanted tape to hang posters for an upcoming school event. One student needed Flower to sign a form excusing her from class for the school’s blood drive. Some wanted to talk about the upcoming Islander Dance. One needed to check on his grade.

It’s a parade the McKay High School teacher is used to. Flower teaches social studies, including the school’s student government class, and serves as the school’s activities director.

The job means she makes ample use of the 6-foot-wide wall calendar in her classroom, which lays out the entire school year. Planning dates for the fall is already starting with her leadership students.

“I have too many dreams and too many ideas and I try to do too many things,” she said with a laugh.

Flower is among the local educators nominated this year for a Crystal Apple award.

Students spoke about her as a cheerleader who works to engage students in material and finds ways to make their ideas reality.

“Flower sat with us and listened to our vision and empowered us to shape the course and events in meaningful ways,” wrote one of her leadership students in a nomination letter for the award. “I began to see Flower as my teacher, the one that you seek out for anything small or victory. Flower helped me find the future I wanted for myself, even when I thought I was not going to be able to go to college.”

Flower graduated from McKay in 1998 and said returning as a teacher is her “dream job.”

She loved history as a student, but almost didn’t pass her freshman world history class.

Her last name at the time was Williams, and students were seated alphabetically. From the back of the room, she needed her glasses to copy the teacher’s notes on the overhead projector. 

Flower lost her glasses and her family couldn’t afford a new pair. She was too embarrassed to tell her teacher that she couldn’t keep up because she couldn’t see the notes.

It’s a story she now shares with her students, knowing many are facing similar challenges.

“If you need something, come tell me. I may not have it in that moment, I may not know the answer but I’ll do everything I can to figure it out for you. And part of that is because I’ve been there,” she said.

Flower is in her fourth year at McKay, and said she’s seen an evolution as students have returned from the pandemic and learned again how to be part of a school community. Students now are less anxious about raising their hand or expressing an opinion than those who had freshly returned from school closures.

“We’re seeing momentum. We’re seeing students start to maybe re-embrace those ideas of school spirit and school participation. They’re starting to do more things,” she said.

She’s worked with her students to extend McKay events into the community, opening the school for families so younger children can see themselves as future high school students.

“One of the big beliefs I have is you’re not a Scotsman the day you walk into McKay. If you live in northeast Salem, you’re a Scotsman from the beginning,” she said.

When she teaches history, Flower helps students make connections between material that can seem distant and their present-day lives.

She was thrilled when students came in with questions about President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship — something established in the fourteenth amendment. Her U.S. history class had just discussed Reconstruction and the amendments passed during that time.

“They made those connections and that’s a magical moment,” she said.

Flower attributed some of her connection with students to her outgoing nature and efforts to be genuine. She said she tries to give students real answers to their questions and problems.

“There’s not going to be judgment. All I’m going to do is try to help,” she said.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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