My name is Jershon Foyston and I am super excited about becoming a new member of the South Shore PK8 community. I look forward to building lasting relationships with the students and community members and helping the students find out who they are and how they will find their success. I look forward to working with the staff on furthering their pursuit of education, so they are best able to teach and serve the students and their unique needs. I know that I can feel successful in many ways.

I have been engaged in education in some way, my entire adult life. As a child, I remember my father as a school teacher working with at risk students. I can remember going to work with him and seeing him interact with his students. It was also fun to see his students recognize him outside of school. My brother and grew up being known as “Mr. Foyston’s Kids.” Now, I am Mr. Foyston.

I entered the teaching world as an instructional assistant in a special education behavioral classroom at Cedar Heights Middles school in Kent. This is where I got hoked on working with students. I then went to Washington State University and earned my degree in education with a focus on English. I taught at Federal Way High School for two years teaching English at all levels. While I was teaching at Federal Way High School, I was earning my certification in Special Education. Upon receiving my certification in Special Education, I took a job in the school district that I grew up in; the Kent School District. I worked at Meeker Middle School for 4 years as a Special Education teacher working with students with behavior and emotional disabilities. There, I worked to develop a program to help students learn how to take ownership of their lives and choices. I found great pride in the students I worked with and the growth they made.

It was at this time that I realized that to make a bigger impact on more than just my students, I would need to get into administration. I earned my master’s in leadership in Education from City University of Seattle. I worked as part of the equity team and the PBIS team. I have a passion for working with students that other people find difficult. With this degree and my new position at Meridian Middle school as a Behavior Interventionist I was able to work with a large body of students. I was able to help them learn how to take ownership of their decisions and to also look to the future with a lens of hope that they may not have had before.

The struggle that some of our students go through every day is very real, and helping them find a light in darkness is one of the greatest gifts I get doing the work that I do.

Outside of education, I have been married to my beautiful wife for the past ten years. We have three energetic children, boy and girl twins and a newborn. My life is very busy, but I am blessed for sure. I do enjoy the outdoors and exercise. I love sports and have been coaching them for almost twenty years.