When Jenna Skove '16 was about six years old, attending a Swiss elementary school, a classmate said something that stayed with her for years. Knowing Jenna was adopted, the student told her, “When your parents no longer want you, they’ll throw you in a trash can.”

At the time, Jenna had grown up feeling proud of her adoption. After that moment, she remembers wishing she was not adopted at all. It was an early experience of how words and belonging can shape a child’s sense of self. This understanding would later become central to her work as an educator.

Jenna’s connection to Leysin American School is inter-generational. Her parents (Kim Oppenheim and Jamie Skove) met while teaching at LAS. Years later Jenna arrived as a grade 8 student and continued in the school until her graduation in 2016. Today, she has returned to teach English Language Acquisition, in the same program that once supported her own academic journey. 

“My mom taught English Language Acquisition—the same thing that I teach now.” Jenna’s familiarity with the program goes back to her time as a student when she experienced the challenges that come with learning in a new language.

Adopted from India at the age of one, Jenna was raised in Switzerland in an English-speaking household while attending the local French-speaking Swiss public school system. “When I was in the Swiss school, French was really hard for me because we only spoke English at home.” This divide in language made school difficult, until an influential teacher reshaped her relationship with learning. “I met my all-time favorite teacher and  he changed my perspective of education,” Jenna said. “Until then, I just hated school.” 

When Jenna started attending LAS as a student, she entered the English Language Acquisition program herself, something that now often surprises her students. To them, her English sounds fluent and effortless. What they don’t see is that she had never learned English academically, and closing that gap required time, patience, and persistence. Learning the ins and outs of English grammar as a teenager continues to shape how she approaches ELA in her classroom today.

Having been in ELA herself, Jenna is especially attuned to the assumptions students make about language ability. “There’s a stigma of being in an ELA class. Sometimes you are treated like you’re ‘stupid’ or ‘dumb’, but that’s not the case.” In her classroom, she works to dismantle that stigma by reframing language learning as a process rather than a measure of intelligence. “Everyone works at a different pace.”

Growing up as a person of color in Switzerland also shaped Jenna’s understanding of belonging. “In the Swiss public school system, there weren’t many students of color.” Often, she was aware of being seen as different before she had the language to explain herself. Navigating difference, language, and identity has given her a heightened awareness of how easily students can feel isolated, especially those who have ideas and opinions, but not yet the vocabulary to express them.

Jenna has explored these themes in a TED-style talk that connected her personal story of adoption with research on gender and infanticide in India. “In the past, I felt very insecure about my Indian heritage but now I am proud of being adopted and my heritage”. Revisiting painful memories was challenging, but ultimately affirming, reinforcing her belief in the power of voice, language, and education.

After earning her degree in education from Stevenson University in Maryland, Jenna taught middle school during the COVID-19 pandemic at an all-girls school. She later returned to LAS, continuing her family legacy of education. “I always knew I wanted to be a teacher,” Jenna said. Her path has been shaped by both personal struggle and strong role models. “Having two parents that are great role models has been amazing”.

Today, Jenna brings empathy, patience, and lived understanding into her classroom, helping students build not only language skills, but confidence, belonging, and trust in their own voices.