Bio: Jessica Drench
Jessica Drench brings a blend of experiences in education and non-profit management to her role of 826 Boston Program Director. A certified English and Special Education teacher, Jessica has taught grades 5-12 in Boston and New York City. She began her career at McKinley South End Academy (formerly McKinley Tech), a separate program for troubled youth in the Boston Public Schools, where she taught high school English and worked with her colleagues to implement the Readers and Writers Workshop. Jessica has also coordinated numerous youth and community gardening initiatives, and has planted gardens with kids in the desert, the mountains, on abandoned lots, and busy street corners. Most recently, Jessica served as Director of Programs at a sustainability education non-profit, where she recruited educators nationwide and collaborated to develop project-based multidisciplinary curriculum for K-12 classrooms. Jessica has a B.A. in English from Brown University and an M.A. in Teaching English from Columbia Teachers College. In her spare time, she enjoys reading on the porch, cooking up a storm, and watching things grow.
