Alec Patton:
If you could go back and talk to first week of high school Jessica, what would you tell her?
Jessica Waters:
I don’t know that she would listen to anything I would say, just saying. She was pretty badass, strong-willed kind of person. But I guess I would tell her that this isn’t going to be where she stays, that the story isn’t going to end here.
Alec Patton:
This is High Tech High Unboxed. I’m Alec Patton, and that was the voice of Jessica Waters, executive director of Nowell Academy in Providence, Rhode Island. I met Jessica at the 2024 Deeper Learning Conference, because I led a deep dive session on telling stories of learning through podcasts, along with Brent Spirnak and Marcus Hung, and she was in our group. It being a podcasting workshop, we had some recording equipment set up. Jessica was curious about it, so I said, “Hey. Why don’t I just interview you, and then you’ll see how it all works.” The moment she started talking on the mic, I knew we would be releasing this as a podcast episode. That’s all I’m going to say. Let’s play it. All right, Jessica. Let’s talk a little bit about your teaching journey, your experience.
Jessica Waters:
This morning, I shared the six-word memoir, which was high school principal, not a graduate, because I actually dropped out of high school. So I have a GED. So my journey from high school dropout to now leading a school for pregnant, and parenting, and off-track youth is really how I got there, through this experience that I had with public education.
Alec Patton:
So why didn’t you finish high school?
Jessica Waters:
My parents were, at the time, they … I was around 15, so I went to ninth grade for about a week. This was their third time being incarcerated. So I actually moved out and just stopped going to school, got two jobs.
Alec Patton:
Because both your parents were incarcerated?
Jessica Waters:
Yes.
Alec Patton:
Oh. Wow.
Jessica Waters:
They went a few weeks after each other, but …
Alec Patton:
Oh my gosh. I mean, I don’t want to go in deep, but what were they doing? What was the-
Jessica Waters:
My father actually never had a legit job. He was always what we would call a hustler. So the last time, this time that made me move out, they had a jewelry heist they did together.
Alec Patton:
Oh. Wow.
Jessica Waters:
Yeah. So they got caught.
Alec Patton:
Gosh. Are you in touch with them now?
Jessica Waters:
Yeah. I mean, leading up to that, I think drugs is what really drove the nail in the coffin for them.
Alec Patton:
Sure.
Jessica Waters:
Yeah. I talk to them. My father was homeless for a lot of years, and now he has housing. They’re just kind of older now, so they’ve calmed down a bit, but I wouldn’t say living a life I would want to live at their age.
Alec Patton:
Sure. That sounds tough.
Jessica Waters:
Yeah.
Alec Patton:
So when you say you dropped out of high school, you barely attended high school.
Jessica Waters:
Right. It was like a week or something like that. I don’t recall. It was in the fall, like September of ninth grade.
Alec Patton:
So one thing I think is that could go either way. Because you could either think, “I’m out of here,” or you could think, “Oh. There’s one stable structure. I can just do that.” So why do you think you didn’t go that route?
Jessica Waters:
The stable structure?
Alec Patton:
Yeah, the like, “Oh. I should just stay in high … I should definitely stay in high school, because everything else in my life is …”
Jessica Waters:
Well, I mean, I had this idea that I was going to drop out because I needed to work, because I was moving out. I got an apartment at 15. I lied, said I was older. So my mother before, so she had come with me to the school to sign me out, and the guidance counselor just slipped the papers across the table and said, “Just sign here.” So it didn’t feel like there were really any options anyway for me there. No one stopped me.
Alec Patton:
With the guidance counselor, it just like, “Here you go”?
Jessica Waters:
Yeah. No one stopped me. And so years later, my little sister’s, 18 years between us, she actually was in the same situation in the same town. She was in DCYF care, because they were back in there. I don’t know if they went … They did, they went back to jail, but they also, they just weren’t doing well. And so she was taken. She was a student at the school that I accepted this job at, the school I’m at now, and I didn’t know she was a student. So she was the first. She graduated that year, my very first year at my school. She graduated-
Alec Patton:
Well, you didn’t know your sister was at your school?
Jessica Waters:
No.
Alec Patton:
Wow. So you weren’t in touch with your parents particularly at that point?
Jessica Waters:
No. I mean, I knew she was in DCYF care, but I didn’t know that she … Because she really wasn’t attending even at this school that I’m at. And so I was like, okay. So then it was my … I was like, “You’re going to be the first in our family to graduate,” because she’s the first of the, all the sisters to actually have a high school diploma.
Alec Patton:
Wow. You must have a college degree, though.
Jessica Waters:
Yeah. So then, I have fake certificates.
Alec Patton:
It’s all coming out now.
Jessica Waters:
It’s all a dream. Used to read the Word Up! Magazine. Anyway, so yes, I went back, got my GED first. Then, I went to cosmetology school. I was like, “Oh. I’m going to be a hairdresser,” but I didn’t like that. I still have my license. I keep it active just in case. So if you need a buzz, I can, you know. Can do some color if you wanted.
Alec Patton:
Hey. Hey. That’s getting a little personal now.
Jessica Waters:
So I did that, and then I wanted to groom dogs. I was like, “This’ll be better.” So I groom dogs for many years, but I still, I wasn’t satisfied with the world. I was like, “I didn’t come this far to only come this far.” So then, I went back, and I was like, “I’m going to be a doctor,” because that was like kids like me don’t become doctors, or lawyers, or that kind of thing. So then, I went through a pre-med program, all the way through, organic chemistry, all the biologies, everything. Then, I get to the end, and I was like, “I actually don’t want to do this. I don’t want to go to med school.” And so I was just drawn to helping kids that were like me. And so I was a science teacher.
Alec Patton:
Wow.
Jessica Waters:
Yes, and then, in my fifth year of teaching, I was selected to be the Rhode Island State Teacher of the Year. Got to meet President Obama, go to the White House. It was pretty amazing. And so that just further pushes me to be a window for our kids on what’s possible for them.
Alec Patton:
Yeah. Wow. So you, Principal Jessica-
Jessica Waters:
Superintendent now.
Alec Patton:
Superintendent. Sorry. Superintendent Jessica.
Jessica Waters:
I started at my school as the principal.
Alec Patton:
Yeah. Superintendent Jessica, if you could go back and talk to first week of high school Jessica, what would you tell her?
Jessica Waters:
I don’t know that she would listen to anything I would say, just saying. She was pretty badass, strong-willed kind of person. But I guess I would tell her that this isn’t going to be where she stays, that the story isn’t going to end here, and that there is going to be a beautiful ending in life ahead that is safe, that feels like you’re accomplished, and that you have meaning in your life. But she wouldn’t have listened to me. She would’ve had some choice words.
Alec Patton:
Yeah. What do you think she would’ve made to you?
Jessica Waters:
I think she would’ve laughed at me and told me I was a dork. Yes.
Alec Patton:
She’d be kind of impressed, though. I mean-
Jessica Waters:
I think she might be, but she also is a fighter at this point. So she would definitely fight me, maybe physically. I don’t know. I wouldn’t really mess with her, so …
Alec Patton:
Got it. Do you see yourself in kids now?
Jessica Waters:
Yes. And so when we have these fighters, I was like, “Oh. I know you,” and I think that’s what gives me the ability to speak to them and to have them listen. Because I understand where they are.
Alec Patton:
Yeah. So I’m sure you’ve encountered things where teachers take things a little personally. It’s hard not to take things personally with a student where a student’s being a fighter or a student’s … What should those teachers understand?
Jessica Waters:
What they don’t they understand?
Alec Patton:
What should they understand?
Jessica Waters:
They should understand that it has nothing to do with them and that as adults, we have to put ourselves … that aside. It has nothing to do with you. That student does not hate you, doesn’t want to be mean to you. They’re just dealing with their own traumas and their own issues, and that you need to be there for them when they come to you. They’re far and few between when students will say something mean to me. I feel like I immediately am able to build a trusting relationship with them. So it doesn’t happen often.
But in my first few years, there was definitely a power struggle there. I was still sort of scrappy, so it was like a weird … I was still the street Jess who was like, “You’re not going to talk to me like that,” and so that took me a little while to really step back, and create space, and to reflect.
Alec Patton:
Yeah. How’d you do that?
Jessica Waters:
I mean, I would definitely do a lot of deep reflection after school at home and try to remember that these are other people’s kids. And so I always say to my teachers now, “The thing that could really help you is to love other people’s children like your own.” Because when you look at them, when I have kids, even now, who’ve done the craziest things, and I look at them, and I’m like, “This could be my son.” I have three daughters and a son. I’m like, “You could be my son, and how would I want someone … How would I treat you and talk to you in this moment? Because you’re not a bad person. You’ve done a stupid thing.” You have to have that outrageous love in order to, I think, get through it and be successful.
Alec Patton:
Yeah. How old are your kids?
Jessica Waters:
I have a 23-year-old who lives in Maui now, and then I have a 14, 11, and 6-year-old.
Alec Patton:
Are they ever just like, “I don’t need to go to school. You dropped out. You did great.”
Jessica Waters:
No. No. No. It’s not even like … The thing is, once you break that, there’s no questions. It took a lot. It’s a lot to bear. My husband’s in the same, similar situation with his family, and to be the people that changed the trajectory forever for our families, we lifted them up, and now they’re up. And so it’s not even a question. There’s nothing on the table. There’s no question about whether you’re going to school or not. In terms of college, I believe they should have their opportunity to choose. So how can I set them up for success so that they’re able to choose whatever pathway that they want?
Alec Patton:
Yeah. All right. Jessica, thank you so much.
Jessica Waters:
You’re welcome.
Alec Patton:
High Tech High Unboxed is hosted and edited by me, Alec Patton. Our theme music is by Brother Herschel. Huge thanks to Jessica Waters for sharing her story. We’ve got a link to the Nowell Academy website and the Deeper Learning Conference website in our show notes. Thanks for listening.
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