Spotlight: Nancy Jackson

We caught up with Kevin Jackson, PMFS class of 1997, to talk about his mom, Nancy Jackson, who spent more than 30 years working at Plymouth. She nurtured generations of students during her career, and PMFS alumni will remember her love for nature and art. Nancy passed away in 2012.

Nancy started as a van driver in 1977, back when PMFS took students to and from school. She soon became a Pre-Primary Assistant Teacher in Sandra Smith’s classroom, then spent the next 20 years as an Assistant Teacher in Primary with Megan Hess, Dee Haines, and Heidi Schifferli (Rozak). In 1992, Nancy started to split her time between Primary and the Main Office, where she worked as the Transportation Coordinator and an Administrative Assistant alongside Rachel Paul. From 1999 until her retirement in 2008, Nancy focused on her work in the Office.  

Kevin remembers the farm he grew up on at the intersection of Butler Pike and Flourtown Road, where his parents farmed a few acres of vegetables and herbs for their own kitchen. They also hunted deer, pheasants, and doves, and Kevin has fond memories of trout fishing with Nancy in the Wissahickon Creek. Nancy loved to take care of her houseplants, watch her birdfeeders, and always had a bird identification book handy. She studied Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Kevin showed me a beautiful painting of a hawk Nancy had done in her student days. 

Kevin thinks that it was Nancy’s belief that “home is something to be made” that kept her at PMFS for all those years. She identified with Quaker values, loved being around children, and had strong friendships with PMFS teachers. Longtime Third Grade Teacher Holly Terry was Nancy’s birth partner when Kevin was born. When Nancy passed away in 2012, many friends from PMFS came to her funeral. 

After being inspired to be a marine biologist from fishing trips with Nancy and his Ocean Animal project in Third Grade, Kevin spent 13 years as a field biologist working on sustainable fishing practices. He now leads catch-and-release fly fishing tours in Costa Rica, where he focuses on empowering local communities, sustainable tourism, and conservation. Kevin would like his PMFS Spanish teacher Lisa Morales to know that he hasn’t lost her Mexican accent in his Spanish even after years in Costa Rica.

PMFS has planted a tree on the playground and installed a plaque to dedicate it to Nancy in gratitude for her years at Plymouth, with the support of her former colleagues. It is a winter hawthorn, with white flowers in spring, glossy green leaves in summer, and red berries that the birds enjoy in the winter.