Bio
Alia Jackson, a self-described “Air Force brat,” grew up moving from town to town, as her father’s military postings shifted. She attended SUNY Plattsburgh, where she ran a physics and astronomy lab — an unusual amount of responsibility for an undergraduate.Today, Jackson shares her love of physics with students at Curtis High School by making her classes fun. She has taken her students to Six Flags to see how various rides affected heart rate, and her physics classes typically include projects like construction of water-powered rockets and rubber band powered cars.In her six years at Curtis, she has established a phenomenal track record: she single-handedly created the school’s International Baccalaureate program’s physics curriculum and her pass rate on the Physics Regents is almost 100 percent.Her contagious enthusiasm for physics is making a difference in the careers her students pursue. A former student is getting her degree in civil engineering, which
