Renee E. Jackson

Renee Elise Jackson was born on December 31, 1977 in Baltimore, Maryland. She departed this life on October 25, 2016, as the result of an automobile accident. At the age of nine, Renee joined White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA. She began her formal early education at the Bryn Mowr Little and Lower Schools in Baltimore and at Lida Lee Tall Elementary School in Towson, Maryland. She continued this education at the Roland Park Public School in Baltimore at the Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland, New York; and at the Baltimore City College High School. At City College High School, Renee was active in Mock Trial, conduced by her favorite history teacher, Mr. Miller, and she participated enthusiastically in the choirs directed by Ms. Linda R. Hall, with whom she also studied piano. Renee received a Commonwealth Scholarship to attend Towson University in 1996, and in 2000 Renee was awarded the Bachelor of Science degrees cum laude both in Political Science and Communication Studies. Her high school interest in mock trial at City was one of the motivations for Renee's active participation in Towson University Debate League, which sometimes included summer projects at other universities. Independently, Renee studied classical voice with a Towson University Instructor. In 2000, Renee was awarded a fellowship to begin graduate study at the University of Pittsburgh, where she also taught public speaking as she took courses toward the master's degree in the Department of Communication and Media Studies. In addition to serving as a debate coach, and competing in debate tournaments, Renee made time to study classical voice with a private teacher in Pittsburgh. From interactions with students in various interest groups, Renee likewise developed a passion for the study of physics, which she never abandoned. In 2005, Renee became a Remedial Language Instructor at the Pine Ridge School in Winooski, Vermont. There, she drew upon Ortner Gillingham's phonology-based pedagogy to instruct students with a variety of special needs, including those suffering from autism, others considered savants, and still others with varying challenges. Soon, Renee was asked to develop and direct the Pine Ridge Choir, and later, to organize a student band. Her interest in music and the arts expanded to a love for individual performances in her own right. Under the tutelage of a performance voice teacher, she became the lead singer in the Vermont band "Seventeen East." Whenever time allowed, Renee sang in competitions and acted in plays in Vermont. Impressed by her performances, cultural editor of the Vermont Times newspaper invited Renee to publish reviews of musical and theatrical performances in Burlington, which she enthusiastically completed. In Baltimore in 2008, Renee became employed by the communications corporation Arbitron Mobile (later a part of Nielsen Audio, Inc.) and was quickly promoted from a Panel Relations Specialists to Panel Relations Supervisor, in 2009. After excelling in this role, she was further promoted in 2011 to Field Supervisor, to help create a new department and contribute to a significant company initiative. In the role of Field Supervisor, she managed a remote team of Membership Representatives responsible for building and maintaining in the North East region (including Boston and New York City) panels used for consumer research. In 2015, Renee became a member of Teach for America, in order to make a difference in Baltimore area public schools by teaching high school English, and simultaneously, she completed successfully a year of study in the Johns Hopkins University Master of Education Program. In August 2016, Renee accepted a position to teach regular and honors tenth and eleventh grade English in Somerset County, Maryland. On October 25, at 10:00 p.m., while Renee was returning from a social event held by her former English chair, multiple injuries from her car crash took her life. She leaves to mourn, her parents, Drs. Wendell and Edith Jackson, aunts and uncles Carrie Cannicle, Regina Graham, Denise Banks, Yvette Thomas, Earl Jackson, and Melvin Graham; a number of cousins, including Robin Cannicle; her great uncles and aunts; and other dear relatives and friends. All will miss her.

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Renee E. Jackson

December 31, 1977 - October 25, 2016