JASON GIPSON-NAHMAN
Physics Teacher
TC Williams High School
Alexandria, Virginia

Jason Gipson-Nahman’s fascination with high school physics led him to engineering.  As an undergraduate, he interned for three summers with Texaco and Ford Motor Company and spent a summer working on offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.  Jason earned a BS in mechanical engineering and a BA in Spanish from the University of Texas and went on to work as an information technology consultant for a small software development company.

When working in corporate America did not prove fulfilling, Jason sought “more meaningful and purposeful work” in the Dominican Republic as a Peace Corps volunteer.  During his three and a half years there, he worked in a high school computer lab in a small town along the northern Dominican-Haitian border, as a volunteer coordinator, and with the Dominican Ministry of Education.  He fell in love with teaching.  “I decided to take the lessons learned from my Peace Corps service and apply them to education challenges here in the United States.”  Jason earned his Masters in Education with certification in secondary school physics from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Jason’s background in IT is well suited to his school’s emphasis on technology and he focuses on using and teaching technology that will benefit students beyond high school, as well as on preparing his students for college.