Interview with Jacqueline Brandow by Michelle Carter Smith
- I work with my Corbett team to implement the grant. There are a lot of rules that are not necessarily intuitive but must be adhered to. The grant funder, the US Department of Education, has funded a handful of School-Based Mental Health grants in Oregon. The grant aims to address student mental health needs by providing more mental health service providers, and more providers from diverse backgrounds to retain the SBMH staff.
- The SBMH team is working hard to provide mental health services for any student at Corbett who needs support. I supervise these mental health professionals and look for ways to promote and maintain a thriving mental health team.
- To best meet the needs of all students at any grade level during different points of time in a student's academic journey, mental health providers at Corbett aim to employ a school-wide systematic approach called a tiered system of support/s. My part in helping my Corbett team build and maintain this approach allows me to learn, plan, and implement systems where wellness is at the forefront and can support the academic load for kids.
Jacque was born in Portland, Oregon, and was an only child. Jacque spent her childhood living in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. She loved being outdoors as much as possible and greatly enjoyed visiting her aunt's farm with her cousins. Jacque says she was always interested in what her older cousins were doing and catching them up on her adventures when she was not at the farm. These were the best and longest days; riding horses, training farm animals to do fun tricks, running barefoot through the sprinklers, and eating fresh fruit from the trees. She attended several different schools while growing up and this allowed her to become adaptable. She learned how to get along with several different types of kids and adapt to many different learning situations. At age 16,
Jacque began to waitress and was also a demo girl at Costco. She graduated at age 17 with a state diploma after finishing at an alternative high school. Next, Jacque got a job as a meat wrapper, and with the guidance of the meat department manager, she was mentored through a 2-year apprenticeship program to become a journeyman meat wrapper. She enjoyed the fast-paced work, it paid well and provided full benefits. During this time, Jacque also attended college and earned an associate's degree from Skagit Valley Community College and used that to transfer to Western Washington University. She had to give up meat wrapping and go back to waitressing because the classes needed for a bachelor's degree at Western were during the day, the same as the meat department hours. Jacque earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and minored in childhood development. In 1996, Jacque gave birth to fraternal twin girls, Calloway and Morgan. When they were toddlers, Jacque earned her master's degree from Heritage University in Toppenish, WA. The girls were raised in Eastern Washington and now both live in Oregon. Jacque is close with her daughters and they communicate almost on a daily basis. In 2014, when her daughters went off to college, Jacque began work on her doctoral degree. She wanted to investigate foster kids who are successful in college despite having faced adversity. She is currently working on her dissertation and reconnecting at Lewis and Clark College. She began working in the Corbett School District in late February 2024 after seeing a job opening on the internet. She feels she was handed a gift! She said she has high expectations of herself and others and sees a great future ahead. Currently living in Portland, she has two labs and loves to hike, walk, and run with them. She also is a downhill skier and enjoys kayaking.