Welcome to Mr and Mrs Social Studies! We are Jake and Sarah Settanni, and we are passionate about creating engaging and meaningful Social Studies lessons at the secondary level! Although Mr and Mrs Social Studies was first established back in 2015, we have just started our blog and website, so we look forward to building things up over the upcoming months! In the meantime, we thought it made sense to share our story and give some background about us.
Jake Settanni is currently in his sixth year of teaching 6th grade Ancient Civilizations, which he has taught at two different schools, including his own former junior high! During this time, he has created some of our most engaging Ancient Civilizations resources, and he continues to look for new ways to bring history to life in his classroom! He is also passionate about educational technology and rethinking the way and order in which we teach history. So far in his teaching, he has also served as the director of the theater program, moderator of scholastic bowl meets, and a cross country coach. Jake received his teaching degree in 2014 from the University of Illinois, with a major in History and a minor in Secondary Education, and has nearly completed his master’s degree in Learning Design and Leadership, which will certify him to become a technology specialist. In his free time, Jake enjoys playing piano, reading, watching anything related to Star Wars, and spending time with friends and family.
Sarah Settanni has taught Social Studies and Spanish over the past five years. During her first three years of teaching, she taught 6th grade World Geography, 7th + 8th grade U.S. History, and Spanish 1 (HS) in a rural community. She spent the next two school years teaching 8th grade U.S. History and Spanish in an urban environment, where she also served on the Social Studies District Leadership Team. In terms of extracurriculars, Sarah has coached middle school track, taught cooking and nutrition classes, and served as the school representative for the 8th grade Washington DC trip and National Geographic Geography Bee. In addition to graduating from the University of Illinois in 2014 with a major in History and minors in Secondary Education and Spanish, she received her master’s degree in 2018 in Global Studies in Education. This school year, Sarah decided to take a break from teaching to prioritize work on both Mr. and Mrs. Social Studies and Abundantly Minimal, her other business and YouTube channel that prioritizes decluttering and intentional living. In her free time, she loves traveling or planning upcoming trips (20 countries and counting), cooking, creating new resources, going for walks, and watching movies!
What’s with the name?
We first met as part of our history teacher certification program at the University of Illinois, back in 2012. We were paired up for the first set of observations, and we bonded while working on the lesson plans we needed to teach together. As we spent more time with one another, it was clear that we were meant to be together, so we got married in 2014 after college graduation and have been creating lesson plans ever since!
Putting all of the sappy stuff aside, it has been such a privilege to both teach Social Studies and be able to support each other, especially through the times when we were the only one teaching our subject in the district. While some couples might drive each other crazy if they both had the same job, it has allowed us to push each other to be better teachers and we have grown so much (while still setting boundaries, of course). We are now excited to be sharing teaching tips and resources with you here on our blog! There is a lot in store, so stay tuned!
