The NAF Academy, which includes the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, Bio-medicine, Computer science, and Engineering, has a new director, Brandon Wims. In his 13th year at Jackson-Reed, Wims is excited to make an impact on Jackson-Reed’s students and academies in collaboration with Regina McClure. 

Last year, Wims served as the coordinator of the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, one of Jackson-Reed’s largest academies. As the new director, Wims hopes to expand recruitment. 

“[I want to] keep building the academies and go into the middle schools and get the middle schools involved. Hopefully when they come to Jackson-Reed they’ll be interested in choosing an academy,” Wims said. 

Wims hopes to focus on making sure students are taking the full sequence of courses, participating and taking advantage of their academy internships.

Wims also plans to add finance, graphic design, and Audio-Visual production as NAF academies by the end of the year.

Regina McClure, a new staff member, transferred to Jackson-Reed from Eastern High School this year. She and Wims work closely together, overlapping on all three NAF SciMaTech academies and coordinating NAF academy events and opportunities.

McClure emphasized the importance to her of all students having meaningful internships, an area she recognizes needs growth. She also hopes to put more of a focus on field trips and guest speakers. 

“I want to bring the learning to life,” McClure said. Not only does she want to keep students engaged in their academy, but she wants to increase completion of academies.

“If we have 200 students that start, I want 200 students to finish. I really want it to be where we have enough teachers, support, and enthusiasm for it,” McClure said. 

NAF, National Academy Foundation, was founded in 1980 as a means to help guide and prepare students for college and careers.

“[NAF is] a small learning community with students with like-minded interests that come together and take a sequence of courses and hopefully pursue that career of the pathway they choose,” Wims said.

With at least half of the student population currently enrolled in one, the NAF academies make a large impact on student experience. 

Vice president of the Biomedical Sciences Academy Kinzly Gootman appreciates the unique opportunity to be able to explore medicine in high school and is looking forward to Wim’s and McClure’s future plans. 

“I think Ms. McClure and Mr. Wims bringing new ideas and organization will provide even more opportunities to students. They are working on organizing field trips, guest speakers, and community service events,” Gootman said.

The academies were previously directed by Alex Wilson, who retired last year. “We will all miss Mr. Wilson, but I have full faith in Mr. Wims. He is very qualified for the job and is already planning great things for the academy,” Hospitality and Tourism Academy student Max Bosquet said. •