Teacher inspires San Jacinto high school students, young dancers in Murrieta – press enterprise

Jacobie Bluhm, a digital media teacher at San Jacinto High School, put a quote from the lovable “Star Wars” character Yoda on a program he handed out to students at the start of the school year.

“This is the quote in my life: ‘Do or don’t do. There’s no trying, ”said 24-year-old Murrieta, who admits to being a huge“ Star Wars ”fan.

Bluhm said he was “called a nerd 10 or 15 times” for writing those words. Then the students began to grasp the message he was trying to convey – that if they made an effort to learn, they would be successful.

In addition to enabling students in his web design course to be successful, Bluhm inspires young dancers at the Murrieta Dance Project, where he teaches hip-hop dance after graduation.

Jeremy Murphy, a video production teacher at San Jacinto High School who works with Bluhm, said Bluhm is particularly adept at building relationships with and involving students.

“Engagement is a big deal – to keep kids interested and also to keep expectations at a level where they keep growing,” he said.

Bluhm brings a lot of energy to the teaching.

“His enthusiasm for their success makes them want to continue to be successful,” said Murphy. “They also feed off this energy. It’s contagious.

Hired in November 2020, Murphy said Bluhm had worked with officials to provide students with a way to create content and design pages for the school’s website. Thus, the homework in his class is more than just academic exercises.

“They don’t just give something back to the teacher,” Murphy said. “They’re putting something up for the website.”

Bluhm said the students’ keen eyes even helped find and correct errors on the website. One student, for example, noticed that the school’s lunch menu was out of date.

“My teaching style is a little different,” Bluhm said. “I am very open and honest. And I think that’s the best trait teachers can have.

His teaching style for the young people of the dance studio is also a little different.

Bluhm challenges children to be their best. It also puts aspiring dancers at ease. It does this in part thanks to the nicknames it offers to children – food-themed nicknames.

Murphy said his daughters, ages 7 and 12, recently took his dance class.

“He used to call my youngest Little Chicken Nugget,” Murphy said. “She still loves that nickname.”

“I’m calling one of my other Mac and Cheese students,” Bluhm added. “And I’m calling another Cheeseburger student.” I think the food is just funnier. The kids find it hilarious and the parents feel good too. “

Bluhm aims to help dancers find – and develop – their inner confidence.

“There is a spark in them that they won’t let be contained,” he said.

Bluhm passes on the confidence his family instilled in him from an early age. There is music in the background. His grandfather, Eddie Summers of Temecula, performed with R&B group Bloodstone. His mother, Jaguar Bluhm, who also lives in Temecula, danced on the TV show “Dancin ‘on Air”.

It was Jacobie Bluhm’s mother who inspired him to become a dancer.

“It’s in your blood and I feel like you’re going to be good at it,” he said as she told her at one point.

Conveying confidence, said Jacobie Bluhm, fits that quote from “Star Wars” he lives by.

“Anything is possible,” he said.