Gregory Jackson, Jr. is from Natchez, Mississippi, and is a Teach For America Greater New Orleans 2018 corps member. His first school placement was at Dolores T. Aaron Academy where he taught 8th grade math. Gregory believes that representation matters and students deserve to have strong male leading content teachers such as himself.

Gregory has always been a teacher who not only teaches content but also uses content to teach life lessons. Lessons that students can take beyond the MAP and LEAP tests.

In pursuit of equity and strengthening the community, Gregory ensures that his classroom is like a mental conditioning camp. To not only teach students content, but to use the content to instill in them core values to live by like perseverance, courage, and tenacity.

All of those characteristics are needed especially in math. "Math can be very challenging, but if we look at every problem as an actual life problem, we will always get to an answer. In life, we can't quit and math is just like life. Some problems are hard, some are easy; but all can be overcome," Gregory said.

Gregory believes that one of the foundations of all success whether in students or adults is the winners mentality that says "I'm not going to quit and I am always going to give my all in everything that I do."