Maggie Jackson has been teaching in the Winchester Public Schools since 2008. She has led both 4th and 5th grade classrooms while also delving into Lego robotics programs at Tufts University and incorporating her knowledge into after-school programming here in our schools.
Women’s History Month 2025 Interview
I began teaching 4th grade at Ambrose in Winchester in 2008. During this time, I first connected with Tufts to implement a Lego Robotics after school program. In 2014, I moved into the new Vinson Owen building and began teaching 5th grade but specialized in science. I continued my relationship with Tufts, incorporating small STEM projects throughout the year. After a quick two years at Lynch, I was approached to work in the MIddle School as a Technology/Engineering Exploratory teacher, where I’ve now been for three years. I love that I work with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and the small STEM projects of my past have become the inspiration for my current curriculum.
What sparked your interest in STEM?
By nature, I am curious, and I’ve always been interested in math, science, and technology. Most importantly, my parents fostered my love of learning and encouraged my inquisitiveness. As an electrical engineer, my dad owned and operated radio stations for most of my life. He inspired me to tinker and figure out how the world around me works. My mom was the director of a nursery school; her patience, understanding, and empathy inspired me to work with children, and in essence, working with children is a form of engineering. I am grateful that my parents helped me experience the world through both of their lenses.
When I moved to WPS, I had the opportunity to connect with Tufts’s Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO). I participated in LEGO Robotics professional development in order to run an after-school program. Initially, I loved providing opportunities for play in an educational setting. However, my connection with the CEEO would become much deeper during my tenure as an elementary teacher.
What have been some of the highlights of your work (or something you are proud of)?
After working with Tufts for Lego Robotics, I was offered the opportunity to teach Lego Robotics summer programs which lead to a partnership in piloting a grant for Integrating Engineering and Literature (now Novel Engineering). This experience was an integral part of my journey as an educator. During my partnership with Novel Engineering, I learned to step back and allow my students to explore, much like the way I had as a child. While acting as a guide, I watched students determine specific problems characters face in the books we read, and engineer inventions as solutions. I recognized that engineering requires imagination, creativity, excitement, engagement, and understanding. These moments shaped the way I taught and emboldened my passion about critical thinking through play and exploration. These experiences helped me develop a toolkit for my future as a Technology/Engineering teacher, allowing me to create engaging, hands-on curricula that allow students to play and interact with the world around them.
Do you feel you faced particular challenges, and/or had particular advantages, as a female studying STEM or working in a STEM field?
I am lucky to have worked in Winchester for most of my STEM career because the entire community has supported and encouraged me along the way. I’ve been drawn to STEM for many reasons, but one of the most important reasons I’ve pursued this career is because of my female elementary students. Even as young as 4th grade, I saw girls begin to shy away from math and science. I became determined to share my passion and demonstrate how exciting, fun, and applicable these subjects truly can be. I want to impart the wisdom of failing forward, rather than fearing failure. I encourage students to embrace the discomfort, push past it, and allow themselves to grow.
Recognizing that our lives have multiple dimensions and pressures, what do you do for self-care?
I play soccer and enjoy going for runs in warmer months. I’m also passionate about exploring the world through food and travel!
Since this is a month honoring women, is there a woman who has inspired you and why?
Aside from my mom who inspired me to be a teacher, I’ve always been fascinated by women who break conventions and overcome challenges, from Virginia Woolf and Mary Shelley to Annie Sulivan and Helen Keller. But the following quote from Marie Curie truly inspires me every day: “I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale.”
How can we inspire and support young women to pursue STEM in their studies, careers, or lives?
Exposure is the most important way we can inspire young women to pursue STEM. By providing opportunities to engage in STEM or meet other women who do, we bestow a vision into the future. I think it’s important to bring young women behind the scenes and expose them to the multifaceted world of science, technology, engineering, and math. At a professional development session recently, the presenter shared that her company is guided by a phrase which really resonated with me. “We can’t be what we can’t see.” It is our duty to draw back the curtain of STEM and beckon young women to their futures.