Jerry Jordan (Ellis) Bourdeaux

Jerry Ellis Bourdeaux was born May 23, 1944 in Greensboro NC and passed away at her home on July 30th, 2017.  She grew up on Silver Hills in New Albany Indiana with brothers Wiley and Charles and sister, Nancy. Her parents, Wiley and Margaret Ellis, were civic leaders.  They built a tennis court, swimming pool, playing fields and a large garden that became the center of neighborhood activities.  When not playing tennis, swimming or tending the garden, Jerry and her siblings rode their bikes and explored the woods around Silver Hills from sun up until sun down. Jerry said her generation was the last one to experience the true meaning of freedom--fearless exploration of their surroundings.  She graduated from New Albany High School and received her BA degree from the University of North Carolina.  She held three master’s degrees--from UNC, Hollins University and Harvard University-- in various fields.  She received her Ph.D. from University of Virginia.  She said, "I never learned to play golf or go on cruises, but I learned how to make a good living by pursuing my academic interests and I had a lot of fun doing it." For 19 years, she and her husband Bob lived in Roanoke Virginia where they raised children Carolyn and Margaret Bourdeaux.  Jerry had many interests.  She worked as a weaver, a fiber artist and screen printer. She taught art and design at several colleges in Roanoke.  She taught history at Patrick Henry High School and founded the Center for Advanced Studies in Humanities, a program for students interested in the humanities and the arts. She was one of the first teachers in the state to have a computer lab in her classroom.  Her vision for education was to expand the horizons and opportunities for students.  She said, "I only wanted to give my students what I had been so fortunate to have growing up--a rich childhood and a love for literature." Interested in school reform and factors that improve achievement, she left teaching to study at Harvard University.  There she received a Master's degree in Education Leadership and certification as a principal.  She then attended the University of Virginia to work on her doctorate and train principal leaders.  Her dissertation, Ninth Grade Transition Programs, laid the foundation for her work as a high school principal. She became a high school principal at Principal Prince Edward County High School where she and her teachers received state recognition for beating the odds: raising student achievement in a high poverty school during the high pressure, test-focused era of No Child Left Behind.  Prince Edward County closed its schools for five years during the segregation movement in the 1950s, leaving a legacy of high school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, and unemployment.  She and her teachers were able to improve student test performance there by using three research principles gleaned from her research:  First, reduce class size for students who struggle.  Second, carefully analyze the tested material children were struggling with and then give them the tools schedule, and support necessary to improve in these areas. Third, remove barriers that prevent children from succeeding, such as punitive school policies. She felt her work in this county was the height of her career. She said, "Everyone wrote off the students in this county. We proved them wrong." In 2005, she became Campus Principal McCaskey High School, Lancaster, PA.  Again, she worked to improve student achievement at this large urban high school attended mostly by Latino and African American students and with a history of low student performance.  She said, "McCaskey was a great experiment in how to manage urban education.  I hope future educators will revisit this model. It holds promise not only for students but also for teachers who work in this pressure-filled environment. Jerry ended her career as Director of High School improvement in Allentown, PA.  There she used data to help teachers analyze the curriculum and make changes that improved test scores.  Teachers were delighted to have concrete strategies to use in helping students.  Jerry said, "No pie in the sky stuff, just effective strategies based on solid research."  She got so good at analyzing test data, that she titled her workshops, "Cracking the Code for State Tests."  Teachers flocked to her training sessions. Jerry and her husband retired to Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, NC; a beautiful rural setting where she had time to reflect on her career.  She felt privileged to have been part of a great experiment in education during the No Child Left Behind era, a period when education was undergoing self-examination and experimentation.   Her hope was that future principals would put politics aside and be fearless in helping students succeed by using the best available research to help guide their decisions.  In her retirement, Jerry continued to explore and learn. Returning to her love of nature and art, she took many classes at the NC Botanical Garden in botanical drawing, gardening, entomology and birding. She became a master gardener and a certified naturalist. She continued to teach children through local nature programs and the local Boys and Girls Club.
Jerry will be sorely missed by her husband, Robert Montgomery Bourdeaux IV; her two daughters and their husbands, Carolyn Jordan Bourdeaux and Jeff Eric Skodnik, and Margaret Ellis Bourdeaux and David Brian Charbonneau; her five grandchildren, Stella Tournesol, Aurora Gladys, Selena Jordan, Terra Rigel Charbonneau and Robert Nathan Skodnik will miss going on nature walks, cooking, doing art projects and playing card games with her. She is survived by her siblings, Nancy Ellis Gregorinci, Wiley William Ellis, and Raymond Charles Ellis.  
A public service will be held Saturday August 5th, 11:00AM at the Gulf Presbyterian Church, 1253 Gulf Road, Gulf, NC 27256.  If inspired, a donation can be made in her memory to the Gulf Presbyterian Church - P.O. Box 206, Gulf, NC  27256, the Triangle Land Conservancy, or the Deep River Park Association - P.O. Box 30, Gulf, NC  27256.
 

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