A look into the secret lives of the Jackson-Reed staff

As students, we interact with teachers in one setting. Week after week, we see them at the same time, the same day, and the same place. We almost never catch a glimpse of their outside lives, except for the occasional run-in at the grocery store. But imagine if we knew just a slice of the life they keep hidden and the talents they don’t teach.

Mr. McMillan 

It’s Saturday morning. For most of us, this means well deserved sleep. But not for music teacher Eric McMillan. For five years, on Saturday mornings, McMillan woke up with one purpose: Krav Maga. It didn’t matter that his lessons were in Annapolis; the joy of the sport was well worth the drive. For those of you that don’t know what Krav Maga is, it is an Israeli martial art. Developed by the Israel Defense Forces, it was made to train for hand-to-hand combat. It’s no easy feat––the first time McMillan tried he passed out. Now you may be wondering how he learned about this and what led him to actually join (we were too). The story goes as follows: One random day McMillan was scrolling through his phone browsing the web. At some point, “Israeli martial art: Krav Maga” caught his attention. He decided to dig a little deeper, found lessons in Annapolis, and the rest is history. While he has been on a break from the martial art since last summer, he ended as a level three out of five and is considering taking it up again soon. 

Mr. Franke

We asked math teacher Grant Franke for a single hidden talent, expecting the usual. Maybe he could juggle, play a musical instrument, or recite the alphabet backwards. However, it was not just one secret fact Franke shocked us with, but essentially an entire lifestyle. From baking mean chocolate chip cookies (we can confirm after sampling them) to cooking a very sophisticated risotto, Franke seems to be made of talent. But the most impressive is his frisbee career. His professional debut came with the Philadelphia Phoenix, a team based out of Philadelphia. His career expanded internationally as he played with the Hong Kong national team in various international competitions. Coming back to the US, Franke continues to represent team USA for his age group and recently placed third in a competition in Ireland. With skill after skill, there is a good chance Franke’s teacher persona may only be a disguise––who knows what else he is hiding?

Mr. Jacoby 

As high schoolers, we all have a relatively similar morning routine. Wake up, get ready, and rush to get to school. Oftentimes, we arrive late, already stressed from the morning we’ve had. During this same timeframe, while we struggle to wake ourselves up enough to get dressed, 17-year-old Alex Jacoby was on the ice. Fully awake and skating. But the impressiveness of this feat goes far beyond his morning practice capabilities. Before retiring from the sport after high school, Jacoby had a 13 year long ice skating career. As only a junior, he was ranked second nationally in junior figure skating. While Jackson-Reed has yet to start an ice skating team, much less have a national win under their belt, a teacher with Jacoby’s level of experience and accomplishment has to count for something.

Mr. Flack 

If we could describe teacher Rob Flack in two words, it would be science and saxophones. Originally going to school for music and music education, Flack later joined the Armed Forces as a saxophonist. While in the Armed Forces for four years, he was stationed in New Orleans and was able to travel all over the country. He hit all the popular American performances, from Mardi Gras parades to NFL halftime shows, to the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show. You name it, he’s played it. He even performed at an NBA all-star game. Although he has since retired and become a science teacher, Flack can still be found playing his saxophone at home with lots of pictures to show off his prime playing days. The moral of this story is that his students should be on their A game in class so he doesn’t leave them in pursuit of a world renowned music career.