ABOUT | LEADERSHIP & STAFF

Joshua Jacobo

Volunteer

Joshua, a Math Teacher for junior and seniors at Lawrence High School, began his journey at YDO in 2007. He was introduced to YDO after Howard Sticklor visited his middle school the Lawrence Family Development Charter School (LFDCS) and asked him if he wanted to participate in a week-long design camp in Lowell. Although Joshua was not sure whether he’d enjoy it – he said yes right away. He calls that one of the best decisions he ever made.

After that summer, Joshua continued to participate in programs Howard had selected him for (which made him feel real special). He participated in a design lab at UMASS Lowell and math games where he started to make friends with kids from different schools. He has always felt deeply supported by Howard and Mark, who allowed and gave him a space to be himself 100%.

Over the years, Joshua remained involved in a ton of different YDO activities and programs. He was the co-director of YDO summer in 2013, and supported after school programming every single year after that. He has taught Topics with Josh, Math Games, Lego Build and Lego Robotics.

Although Joshua took on a full-time teaching position at Lawrence High School in 2021, he continues to come at least 2 times weekly to support with math and several other classes. If you ask him what has kept him around, he will say it is the relationships he built with kids and now young adults. Every year he wants to stay in touch and see their growth. Many of the relationships he built at YDO now transpire to invaluable friendships in his life.

jjacobo@ydolawrence.org