About Me

I am so excited to welcome you to this virtual space!  My name is Jess and I am the proud mom of two special girls - a second grader and a 3 year old!  Both of my girls are curious, brave, and full of personality - although I'm consistently surprised by just how differently those personalities play out!  It's a treat to watch them explore the world and encourage their growth in all areas!  

 I am also a proud educator.  I've been in education for 14 years and have gotten to explore a number of different positions and roles!  One of my top 5 strengths is Learner, so I've been happy to jump into new opportunities as they have been made available to me!  During those 14 years, I have taught 4th grade, kindergarten, 1st grade, STEM, 3rd & 4th grade online, and spent a couple of years outside of the classroom in a role focused on family and community engagement!  Most recently I've been our district Literacy Specialist and Teaching & Learning Coordinator!

This site and the products and services I have been working to create were born from the combination of these two big roles in my life - mom and teacher.  As a teacher I have an idea about the learning that could be happening in our home and know how to make it happen, but the realities of parenting and LIFE can make it really difficult to put ideas into action.  

I want to instill JOY in learning for my girls, but quickly realized that elaborate set-ups and materials just were not a maintainable plan for our family.  Thus, Joy Maintained came to life - the ideas and products you find here are things that I have created for or tried with my girls to create maintainable learning, exploration, and joy for them (and me!).