February’s Community Member of the Month is Jen Martin for the work and relationships she has cultivated as an administrator and educator, most notably in the Social Studies Department, summer school, Whipple Writing Fellowship and Student Government.

Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator Jen Martin is used to wearing many hats. When her two kids were very young, she would work as a School Within a School (SWS) history teacher during the day, then would come home to be a mom and finally would work on her PhD from 9 p.m. until midnight, repeating this routine for several years.

Twenty years later, her work ethic has not changed, even when the hats she wears have changed. With a long history of involvement at the high school, Martin has made her mark on students and colleagues she works with across the numerous facets of her professional life, leading many endeavors with humor, passion and grace.

Growing up as a self-described “army brat,” Martin went through the DoDEA school system where she attended new schools on military bases in many different U.S. states and parts of Europe. She said that it was not until college, at Mount Holyoke College, that she truly had a rigorous academic experience. Around this time, Martin said she started to form a clearer idea of what she would want to do in the future.

“I knew I was pretty good in humanities, so I was either going to be an English teacher or a history teacher. This has all of my skill sets: bossiness and funniness. I was super curious,” Martin said. “I thought I was going to be a middle school teacher, but then I got a job at a high school. When I had just turned 22, I started teaching 18 year olds, which is wild.”

Later on, she said she continued pursuing her studies by obtaining a masters degree and PhD while simultaneously working as a teacher. Now as Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator, Martin said it’s her responsibility to ensure that students are having equitable experiences. In her day, she meets with students, teachers and families often to answer questions and concerns about their classes, scheduling and curriculum, and reviews her emails and important school data. Martin is also in charge of teacher hirings, attends school-level meetings and speaks at Brookline School Committee meetings.

“We ask things like ‘what should we do if a kid cheats at BHS?’ and then try to figure out our policy for that specific thing,” Martin said. “Since social studies is a relatively controversial topic, lots of people have lots of opinions on what should be taught in a social studies classroom.”

She also teaches Advanced Placement African American Studies. Senior Naomi Brinkley, who takes this course said she appreciates Martin’s helpful student policies and that she has learned a lot more about Africa’s history.

“She’s really good about understanding. You get one retake per assessment and she has a great extension policy that allows us to be independent and responsible at the same time. She makes sure everyone knows what’s going on in the class,” Brinkley said.

Senior Eric Bardon and chair of legislature has worked with Martin for four of her 15 years of running legislature and student council as government liaison. As Bardon himself has risen to leadership roles over the years, he said there are many ambitious student government projects that would not have been possible without Martin.

“Last year [while legislature was] working on equitable grading, she was tremendous, giving us her perspective both as a curriculum coordinator and as government liaison. That meant us understanding the implications of our bill in different departments, but also how to try to get it passed,” Bardon said.

Junior Carinn Bueno said she was intimidated by the amount of new people she encountered during her transition to high school. Bueno said that changed after she met Martin following her freshman student council election, and that Martin instantly made an impression on her as a fun and efficient leader.

“She gives us structure, but also so much freedom to be able to grow and learn more about systems in the school, and to be able to advocate for ourselves, which I believe is really important,” Bueno said.

Besides government, Martin is also passionate about writing. She founded the Whipple Writing Program after her former Advanced Placement United States History student David Whipple passed away in 2019. One of her Whipple colleagues, English teacher Evan Mousseau, said she orchestrates the behind-the-scenes efforts, while he interacts face to face with the 12 or so students.

“It feels understated, but it’s really, really huge,” Mousseau said. “The number of administrative things that come through this program is gigantic. She reviews applications with me, but also manages the stipend side of things and coordinates with the folks at town hall, booking spaces.”

Martin said that while she does have a lot on her plate, she finds that the different communities she has been a part of over the years give back to her in rewarding ways. For example, she said that despite no longer teaching SWS, she still feels very connected to their culture, insisting on her students calling her by her first name.

After being a longtime summer school teacher, she became summer school director with Associate Dean and special education teacher Brendan Kobus and said she enjoys spending her summers with their ‘crazy community.’ Martin also said that because she is French, she has been involved in the French Exchange trip for many years, and has developed connections with the world language department as a result. She said she is looking forward to a new, separate Eastern Europe trip with students later this year.

In an email to The Cypress, Head of School Anthony Meyer described Martin and wrote he was fortunate to hire her in 2020 to be the interim social studies curriculum coordinator. According to him, she adjusted rapidly to her new role during the pandemic.

“Dr. Jen Martin is smart, hardworking, and the consummate team player. She navigated those incredible challenges with humanity and purpose. It has been a joy to see her lead so many endeavors,” Meyer wrote. “Beyond running the social studies department, Jen runs summer school, advises our incredible student government, directs the Whipple Writing Program and generally kicks ass in positive, non-violent ways.”