• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Subscribe
Program Guide
Watch Live

CCX Media

Skip NavigationMenu
  • News
    • Close
        • CCX News
          • CCX News Home
          • News Stories
            • CCX Daily Newscast
          • CCX Media Schools
        • Feature Segments

          • Business Matters
          • School Spotlight
          • Standout Student
          • Weekend Showcase
          • Newsmakers
        • News Tip

          Send us a story idea or news tip!
          Facebook Instagram Twitter
          Watch Live
          CCX1 | CCX2 | CCX3
        • Apple News
    • Close
  • Sports
    • Close
        • CCX Sports
          • CCX Sports Home
          • Sports Tips
          • Hall of Fame
          • Upcoming Event Coverage
          • Play of the Week
        • Sports Coverage

          Adapted SportsAdditional SportsBaseballBasketballFootball
          GymnasticsHockeyLacrosseSoccerSoftball
          Swimming & DivingTennisTrack & FieldVolleyballWrestling
        • Social Media

          Facebook Twitter Instagram
          Watch Live
          CCX1 | CCX2 | CCX3
          Shop/Order
    • Close
  • Cities
    • Close
        • CCX Cities
          • CCX Cities Home
          • Cities Stories
          • In The Community
          • Our Town’s Story
          • Community Resources
          • CCX Media Schools
          • City Meetings
        • Your City

          Brooklyn Center Local News and Events
          Brooklyn Park MN Local News and Events
          Crystal
          Golden Valley
          Maple Grove
          New Hope
          Osseo
          Plymouth
          Robbinsdale
        • Social Media

          Facebook Twitter
          Watch Live
          CCX1 | CCX2 | CCX3
    • Close
  • Create
    • Close
        • CCX Create
          • CCX Create Home
          • Channels
          • Resources
          • Meet The Create Team
          • CCX Create Virtual Tour
        • Get Creative

          • Launch Your Creative Vision with CCX Create
          • Free Classes
          • Contact Us
          • Polka Spotlight
          • Diversity Minute
        • RueShare

          • Member Login
          • Member Guide
        • Social Media

          Facebook Twitter Instagram
          Watch Live
          CCX1 | CCX2 | CCX3
    • Close
  • Subscribe
  • Program guide
  • Watch Live

School Spotlight: Jackson Middle School

2:00 PM | Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Learning and fun aren’t always synonymous with one another, but when a school day involves activities where you mix chemicals that turn into foamy substances, chances are that your perception of school can quickly change.

“When you’re dealing with 6th through 8th graders, experiential learning is most engaging for our kids,” said Jane Matheson, the curriculum integrator at Jackson Middle School.

That’s the mind-set at Jackson Middle School. It’s a specialty school in the Anoka-Hennepin School District for math and science, where you’ll find aspects of math and science in places you’d least expect.

“So not only do kids do math and science in a math and science class, they’re even doing it in some of their other classes, from an inquiry standpoint, or an investigative standpoint in art or in music, or things like English and social studies,” said Tom Hagerty, the Jackson Middle School principal.

With an enrollment of nearly 2,200 students, Jackson Middle School is bigger than some high schools.

“We’ve stopped taking open enrollment students right now cause we just don’t have the space or the capacity,” Hagerty said.

For the students enrolled here, the goal is to provide every one of them with skills that will prepare them for careers that may not even exist yet.

One way to do that is by placing students in groups — rather than rows and columns — to help them collaborate with one another

“Do you know how to collaborate? Do you know how to work together in a team to solve a problem? Are you curious? Are you critically thinking? Can you take something that you do not have the answer to and do more research on it and not give up?” Matheson asked.

In other words, the expectation isn’t that every student here will end up in a career in math or science.

“We don’t need everybody in math and science,” Matheson admitted.

But at the very least, the students will have the tools to be successful in whatever they choose.

“We need to be preparing for the jobs that are gonna be there 8, 9 years from now,” Hagerty said.

Yet for the students who are interested in math and science, the school provides them with plenty of resources. 

Take for instance the fact that they have an on-campus observatory that teachers integrate into the curriculum.

“He can take kids into the classroom, give them a virtual ride in the planetarium to Mars or Saturn, and then go up into the observatory and show them the actual planets that they just got done talking about and engaged in,” Hagerty said.

It’s a school with endless learning possibilities that will help students as they transition to high school and beyond.

“That’s what our teachers do, and they do it really well at Jackson Middle School,” Hagerty said.

One of the challenges of a school with nearly 2,200 hundred is trying to make the students feel connected, but Jackson Middle School has a variety of after school activities students can join to help meet classmates with similar interests.

 

Sponsored
Delane Cleveland, reporting

School Spotlight

Related Stories

Osseo Senior High School Celebrates 100 Years with 100 Portraits:  It matters to be a part of… Read More
How Birchview Elementary Principal Changed a School’s Culture:  As the school year winds down, it's… Read More
Champlin Park Standout Student Aims To Leave Lasting Legacy:  At Champlin Park High School, a… Read More
Minnesota High School Grad Rates Reach Record High: How Local Districts Fared:  Osseo Area Schools has… Read More
Brooklyn Center Elementary Rewards Students for Good Choices:  Brooklyn Center Elementary Assistant… Read More
Champlin Park Theatre Presents ‘Hadestown: Teen Edition’:  Champlin Park High School… Read More

Footer

NAVIGATE

  • CCX Media
  • NEWS
  • SPORTS
  • CITIES
  • CREATE
  • Job Opportunities
  • Meet the CCX Media Team
  • ABOUT CCX MEDIA
  • Annual Programming Reports
  • CABLE COMMISSION

SUBSCRIBE

Get email updates for daily story previews. “Week in Review” video links, and programming previews.

Subscribe Today

CONNECT

HAVE A NEWS TIP? CALL OUR TIPLINE AT:  763-533-1710
Send us story ideas and comments!
Get in touch with us
  CCX MEDIA     SPORTS
 NEWS                SPORTS
SPORTS.           SHOP/ORDER

LOCATION

CCX Media
6900 Winnetka Avenue North
Brooklyn Park, MN 55428

Main Phone:  763-533-8196

CCX Media serves the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota, including Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale.
Copyright © 2025 CCXMedia | All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Statement
Web Design and Development by CEL Marketing PR Design and BizzyWeb | Log in