Jessyca is an English teacher at Carman-Ainsworth High School in Flint, Michigan, who has used her voice and her story to inspire students and move them to action. Her students have been inspired to use creative expression to channel their responses to multiple social issues. In 2017, her students developed a collaboration with students in Lansing, Michigan, finding the power of their collective voices to advocate for clean water during the Flint water crisis. Along with teaching a course on social activism and research, she is a soccer coach at CAHS and has written two books, Simply: A Collection of Poetry and 318: A Chubby Chick's Tales of Weight Loss. Mathews cowrote the play Appointments: An Accountant of the Flint Water Crisis to bring community and national attention to the crisis. She is currently working on a poetry collection on the subject.
