09/09/2026
Meet Jenny McAtee. The John F. Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa math teacher is making an impact far beyond the classroom.
McAtee has spent all 17 years of her teaching career at Kennedy, and every Wednesday from 2:40–3:20 p.m. students can also find her operating the school’s student pantry. It’s a place where every student is welcome to pick up food, snacks, clothing, backpacks and other essentials they may need.
“Yes, I teach math, but I want them to leave being fulfilled in every part of their life,” McAtee said. “I just really care about the kids in and out of this building.”
McAtee’s connection to the district goes back much further than her time at Kennedy.
She grew up in Cedar Rapids and attended Grant Wood Elementary, McKinley Middle School and Washington High School before attending Kirkwood and Coe College.
When it was time to begin her teaching career, she landed a job at Kennedy.
“I got a job right at Kennedy and was super excited,” she said.
Today, Cedar Rapids continues to be home. McAtee and her husband are raising their three children here, and her kids are following a familiar educational path through Cedar Rapids schools attending Erskine Elementary, McKinley Middle School and Washington High School.
Teaching was something McAtee knew she wanted to do from an early age.
“I always wanted to be a teacher… forever, I wanted to be a teacher,” she said.
Choosing what to teach was easy.
“I always loved math, and I was pretty good at it,” McAtee said. “I was like, well, I like math, I like teaching, and I put it together. And so, yeah, here I am.”
Why Kennedy?
“Of course, I love the kids,” she said. “I also love my department. My department is fantastic, and so being here at Kennedy with my math department is awesome. It’s kind of helped me stick around, for sure.”
About eight years ago, McAtee recognized a need facing some Kennedy students. It was during an especially cold January, when weather could make it difficult to get to school.
“I was like, people need to get food when they can’t get to school,” she recalled. “They need to have stuff at home.”
That concern slowly grew into an idea for a student food pantry.
McAtee began working with Hawkeye Area Community Action Program HACAP which continues to partner with Kennedy and provides food each week to help stock the pantry.
“We slowly thought up this idea, and it’s kind of grown,” McAtee said. “Now we have, of course, food available, but we do snack bags when we’re open. We have clothes. Kids can come get it. We’ve got backpacks thanks to the church across the street, Lovely Lane. They’ve provided awesome backpacks for a couple years, so it just continues to grow.”
The pantry is intentionally available to everyone.
“We’re open to every student,” McAtee said. “We don’t hold back, and anybody can come in, get what they need, and hopefully that helps especially during little breaks and things like that.”
McAtee sends messages to Kennedy families and the school community letting them know what the pantry needs.
“I put a note out to our school and to the families, and I say, ‘Here’s some things that we need,’ and they really do fill our cart,” she said.
Some people donate food and supplies, while others give money. McAtee uses monetary donations to purchase items the pantry cannot otherwise obtain. HACAP supplies food as well, including many of the pantry’s perishable items.
“I really try to stock that with vegetables and fruits,” McAtee said. “We get some bread from them, and that slowly starts to build as we get throughout the school year. And kids love it. They love to get some of that extra perishable stuff to take home.”
For McAtee, the pantry is another way to help students succeed.
“Everyone deserves to have snacks and yummy foods that we get to eat outside of just the regular stuff.”
Ultimately, she sees a direct connection between meeting students’ basic needs and helping them thrive at school.
“I just know that if we can give a little extra, they’ll do even better in the classroom and do better overall in life.”
Over the years, McAtee has seen firsthand just how significant that support can become.
“There’s been a few kids that we’ve had where they just have zero support at home,” she said. “There’s even a few I’m thinking of that didn’t have a home.”
For those students, Kennedy’s pantry became more than a place to grab a snack.
“They were able to come in and get some items that they were able to then feed themselves and just to be sustained enough until they could get back on their feet in another home or somewhere throughout the community,” McAtee said.
Those moments remind her why she continues the work.
“When those things happen, it’s so humbling,” she said. “That’s why we do it. I want to help everybody, no matter what their situation.”
McAtee is quick to point out that she doesn't view her work as extraordinary. To her, caring about students beyond academics is something educators across the district already do every day.
“I know it sounds cheesy, but I just really care about the kids in and out of this building,” she said. “Yes, I teach math, but I want them to leave being fulfilled in every part of their life.”
Her message to other educators isn't that everyone needs to start a pantry. Instead, she encourages people to find whatever small opportunity they have to make a difference.
“I really do think when you sign up to be a teacher, it’s like a natural thing,” McAtee said. “We care about the kids so much.”
When McAtee isn't teaching or helping with the pantry, life revolves around her family.
“I do have three kids, so they keep us super busy,” she said.
The McAtee family loves being outside together… biking, hiking, running and finding just about any excuse to enjoy the outdoors.
“I’m a huge family person,” she said. “Everything outside of here is just all about my kids and my husband, and we just love being together.”
