Japin’ and Jivin’ with Jada Pierce

Inge Hoogerhuis reached out to the Pigeon Press with the idea that we start a new feature where we “ask a student or teacher some cool questions” to spotlight the wonderful community we have at the school. The staff took the idea and ran, coming up with 20 Northwest Academy-style questions. This week we are featuring EH teacher Jada Pierce.

How did you parents choose your name?

My dad named me after a daytime soap opera actress he liked.

What’s the most interesting dream you’ve had?

I don’t recall it…but I always marvel at being awakened during a fall or moments before death with a physical jolt felt through the body.

Do you think you’re an introvert or an extrovert? Why?

50-50 according to Myers-Briggs & I do think it’s accurate because I find both time spent alone and with others to be restorative to different aspects of my personality.

What’s the worst (least effective) way you’ve tried to cope with quarantine?

I’m not convinced there are any ineffective ways to cope with this.

What was your closest call with death?

Totaling my car making a left turn into Jesuit High School on Beaverton Hillsdale Highway…I’m terrified of left turns to this day.

What/who has influenced you the most in your life and why?

My grandma, Leora…she invested so much in me and my imagination and all of my artistic endeavors during my childhood, then financially invested in my college education. She only had a sixth grade education herself and grew up in poverty, so the sacrifices she made for me are something I consider often and her love and support from childhood still lift me to this day.

What is your dream job?

It’s currently a tie: running a small farm in the middle of nowhere or running a small community arts space/venue that doubles as café/bar/bookstore/record shop where I could run poetry workshops and print handmade chapbooks (& there’s proof of my 50-50 introvert/extrovert for you).

What is an object you will keep your entire life and why?

Things come and go…I’d say my little red acoustic guitar which I bought in high school and still love to play to this day, but I also don’t really harbor a fierce attachment to things.

If anything, what about you has changed during your time at NWA?

Far too many things to list…I became a mom two times over since working here. I’ve also completely shifted my teaching philosophy in the thirteen 13 I’ve taught here; I’m not the same teacher in the classroom as I was when I started (…be grateful).

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Make people love one another (like Cupid, but less annoying and with different arrows to choose from for romantic or platonic love).

If you had to bring one comically large or comically small item to an abandoned island, what would it be and why?

A comically small Cupid to spread love mosquito-like or a comically large cat for snuggling, helping me hunt for food, and protecting me from predators.

What’s your worst fear?

That selfishness, greed, hatred and violence will dominate humanity.

What gives your life meaning?

Writing & reading poetry, playing guitar/singing with others and dancing among friends and strangers (I hope I get to do those last two again soon).

If you could have any famous dead person as the president of the USA, who would it be and why?

Sitting Bull…just imagine how the history of our country could’ve been altered.

With 15 minutes until nuclear annihilation, what snack would you want to be your last?

Ice cream (this was the easiest question to answer of the 20).

What’s your biggest kitchen screw-up?

Unaware of the difference between a clove of garlic and a bulb of garlic, I used a whole bulb of garlic in a single batch of guacamole…it was for a camping trip and interestingly the mosquitos stayed far away.

What’s the worst injury you’ve had? What happened?

I knocked myself out cold mountain biking down a steep hill in Tennessee in my early twenties and destroyed the roots to my two front lower teeth from the impact…hence a series of root canals and two dead teeth.

What’s something most people disagree with you about?

The value of cell phones and social media.

What’s your favorite type of bad weather and why?

A classic thunderstorm with lightning strikes and humid rain; see: Frankenstein.

What’s the most useless talent you have?

I suppose that would be my knack for playing electricity…i.e. the rhythmic noise sounds I can make with an electric guitar, radical distortion and all amp settings on 11. So far it’s only brought me tinnitus.