Meet the Faculty: Jess Wallace
Jessica Wallace joined Brewster this year as the new chair of the Mathematics Department. Her career has spanned many aspects of education, including working as a one-on-one instructor and tutor in Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and SAT/GRE prep. She also taught for 13 years in Virginia’s Fairfax County Public School system (one of the largest in the country), where she worked as a Mathematics Curriculum Team member setting county standards and pacing for AP Statistics, algebra 2, precalculus, AP Calculus. As a teacher in New Hampshire public schools, she brought her knowledge of precalculus, calculus, statistics, and computer science to the classroom.
Described as dynamic, whimsical, and encouraging, this mom of two plus a rescue pup earned an ACFU Educational Foundation Grant in 2016 and 2017 to create an elementary school robotics outreach program, a Sigma Xi Research Grant in 2003 to support travel for astrophysics research, and a George Mason University Graduate Doctoral Fellowship in 2001 to support graduate education and research. Her research topic? Multiwavelength Studies of Active Galactic Nuclei. We asked for a few minutes to chat while she’s still settling in on campus.
Q. Let’s dig right in. What the heck are “active galactic nuclei?”
A. Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are the centers (nuclei) of very bright (high-energy) galaxies, about 5% of all known galaxies. All galaxies have a black hole at their center…active galaxies have supermassive black holes with additional structures called “jets” that take different shapes depending on the relative viewing angle of the object.
Q. Thank you for clearing that up! Back on this planet, you’re drawn to natural spaces and love camping. What is your favorite place to enjoy natural beauty?
A. My favorite New Hampshire place is Fourth Iron Campground, right at the confluence of the Sawyer and Saco Rivers near Bartlett. I prefer national forests and primitive camping, and I like to build and cook over open fires. My favorite places in the U.S. are Grand Teton National Park, the Wind River Valley in Wyoming, and the Oregon Coast. I find a lot of peace in beautiful natural places.
Q. What destinations are still on your travel bucket list?
A. The Patagonia region of South America, Iceland, New Zealand, and Scandinavia. I love rugged mountains, fjords, glaciers, evergreens, and quick swims in cold water.
Q. As the chair of Brewster’s Math Department, what are a few of your hopes or goals for teachers and students?
A. For students, I want them to connect to mathematical thinking and realize that each of them is a mathematician. And for teachers, I want us to grow in our ability to build student resilience, critical thinking, and transferable skills. I believe that “productive struggle” is the best realm for individual growth and that students perform best when they are asked to achieve with high expectations.
Q. What gets you the most excited about math?
A. Understanding it—when math makes sense it’s exciting. When it doesn’t it can be miserable.
Q. One more travel question: You taught in the D.C. area for 13 years. What are the must-see D.C. attractions/museums/sites in your mind?
A. I love natural history museums and places with their own history. When we lived a few miles from the Bull Run and Manassas battlefields in Virginia, the prior owner of our home found and donated many pieces to local museum collections. We found buttons and Civil War bullets with a metal detector in our yard. The history of the area was my favorite part of living there. The Blue Ridge mountains are also lovely.
Q. We know you are a person with many hobbies, including gardening, cooking with an eye toward plant-based meals and a holistic approach to diet and nutrition, model trains and other crafts, and quilting and sewing.
A. Yes! I enjoy darning holes in hiking socks, and am working on a king-size quilt.
Q. As a home cook, what’s your best dish?
A. Best savory dish is Boeuf Wellington. I make it every year for Christmas dinner. Christmas morning I make Cinnamon Rolls from scratch (that’s the sweet one… I’m also known for peach, apple, and other pies). My go-to weeknight dinner dish is grilled chicken, rice pilaf, and roasted broccoli. My kids are always happy to hear “chicken and rice” for dinner.
Q. What life or career advice have you received that you think Brewster students should hear?
A. Start now and devote 15-20 minutes a day to something you love or something that feeds you. When you commit to something daily, that small amount adds up to creating something uniquely you for the world to appreciate and simultaneously allows you to realize your dreams. There is power in each of us; we often fail to recognize that impact can be made with lots of small steps.
