"Beginning Teacher Wednesdays" is a project that was born in the Fall of 2019. Jen Hawkins recognized that Beginning Teachers need support to help them connect the knowledge that they learned in college to actions that need to be implemented in their classroom. "BTW" is a podcast full of all the information that colleges don't have time to cover and realistic ways in which beginning teachers can transition this information into their classrooms.

Hawkins is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where she studied Elementary Education and earned her master's in Educational Leadership and Administration. She is a believer that learning can be both fun and challenging, and she loves working with teachers to find ways to bring that into their classrooms. She is a member of the 2019 ASCD Emerging Leader Class, recipient of the University of South Carolina Elementary Education Achievement Award, and finalist for the University of South Carolina Outstanding Woman of the Year Award.