Jessica Berkman is far more than the Valedictorian of MSHS

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

There are students who excel academically because they naturally have a solid comprehension of the material.

There are others who do well because they put in considerable time to fully learn the subject.

And then, there is Jessica Berkman, the valedictorian of Mahomet-Seymour’s 227-member Class of 2019.

She has membership in both groups.

M-S chemistry teacher Terry Koker had Berkman in class two different years.

“Although she excelled in the courses, she did so by being one of the hardest workers I’ve ever taught,” Koker said. “Not to take away from her giftedness, but Jessica has an attention to detail and time-management skills that are rarely seen in a high school student. “

Berkman took to heart the words of advice she received from her parents when they told her, ‘academics is your job while in high school.’ “

She intentionally limited her involvement in extra-curricular activities, joining Math Team as a freshman and adding WYSE (Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering) as a sophomore.

Her commitment to homework reached a peak on weekends as a junior when she was in Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History.

“I studied non-stop,” she said, “probably 15 hours every weekend.

“I would read it, then read it again and do an outline, and then do practice exams.”

For Berkman, history courses were the opposite of her mathematics classes.

“In math, I could learn the formula and then apply it,” she said. “In history, my brain never worked for memorizing dates and battles.

“That was the first course where I said, ‘I need to study for this.’ It taught me how to study.”

Her efforts were rewarded. She earned A’s both semesters in AP U.S. History and when she took the AP exam received a 5 (the highest score possible).

Eric Potter taught AP Calculus and AP Physics classes that included Berkman.

“Jessica is one of the hardest working students I have encountered in my (22-year) career,” Potter said. “Her dedication to complete understanding of the material and her desire for success in all academic areas drive her strong work ethic.

“Jessica has tremendous natural ability – always being able to quickly understand the material as well as go further in applications and analysis; yet her dedication to spending whatever time is needed to explore challenging material and truly understand it sets her even further apart from others.  Her academic qualities place her among the brightest and hardest working students I have ever taught.”

Berkman acknowledged that she got an early head start in mathematics.

Her maternal grandfather was a former college professor in mathematics and engineering.

“My favorite (subject) is mathematics,” Berkman said. “It stems from my grandpa.

“When I was in kindergarten, he’d have a worksheet with hand-made math problems.

“It was always fun. He made it fun. It allowed me to learn and realize that learning is fun.”

Koker said it was clear that Berkman had a good grasp of her chemistry material, too. One style of question on the AP Chemistry Test is an essay free response.

“On those questions, you have to write paragraphs explaining the answers to questions related to the concepts learned in the course,” Koker said. “Jessica wrote the most wonderful free response essay answers I’ve ever read in my career.  Her explanations were so well thought out, composed, and accurate, you’d think you were reading from a textbook.”

Potter said it’s hard to select a particular subject where Berkman stands out.

“Jessica is obviously gifted in math and science – as well as every other academic area,” Potter said. “She usually receives the highest grades on my difficult Calculus and Physics tests despite the very intelligent and competitive classes she is a part of.

“Jessica always performs at the highest level of achievement, showing an understanding beyond the basic skills and a desire for more in-depth analysis of the material.  She is an active classroom participant – able to provide deep and well-thought-out insight to complex mathematical and physics concepts – and brings a highly academic mindset to the classroom.

“Jessica is the type of student every teacher loves to have in class as her attitude and interest in learning makes for a more challenging and enjoyable experience for everyone.  She is taking an extremely challenging course load, yet thrives in such an environment. Jessica always seeks out new challenges and truly loves to learn.”

Berkman concluded her high school career with a 5.5 grade-point average on a weighted scale. Her final semester grades showed straight A’s each year.

Her course path was set, she said, in junior high.

“At the end of sixth grade, I took a placement test and placed out of the seventh-grade (math) class,” Berkman said. “Myself and two others were able to take Algebra I as seventh-graders. That gave me an edge.”

Berkman advanced to Honors Geometry as an eighth-grader and Algebra II as a freshman.

“At first, I was intimidated, but once I was through with the first semester, I realized it was something that was manageable and an environment I could thrive in,” she said.

Berkman wound up taking eight AP courses while at M-S.

“These advanced courses have been my life the last four years,” she said, “but I’m able to increase my knowledge base and study things I like.”

Berkman acknowledged, “I could have taken all sorts of courses,” but sought out the AP courses.

“I needed that challenge in my life,” she said.

Potter emphasized the nature of the challenge students face while enrolled in AP classes.

“The classes are taught at the pace and rigor of college-level classes, and all students find them a challenge due to their demand on one’s time and intellectual ability,” Potter said. “Although many students struggle through these classes – despite the fact that they are limited, by their intensity, to the top students in the senior class – and others drop out of the classes, Jessica has excelled in such an environment and responded to the challenge.”

While Berkman is known as a serious student, Koker said he occasionally saw another side of the teen-ager.

“Mostly, her sense of humor comes out as a dry wit,” Koker said. “Her skill with words allows her to come up with some really funny comments in class.  I suspect some of her funny thoughts, she keeps to herself.

“I often look over at her in class and she has a type of ‘Mona Lisa’ smile on her face, like she’s thinking about something funny, but isn’t sure if she should say it out loud.  You can tell there’s a lot going on in that brain.”

Berkman and M-S’ salutatorian, Nick Morrow, have been competing for the top grades throughout the last decade.

“We’ve sort of been together since third grade,” Berkman said. “I met him when we were pulled out of class (in elementary school) for an hour to work on harder problems.

“They were called enrichment courses.”

High school math teacher Dan Ryan recalled Berkman as basically quiet, but added, “Ironically enough, the only time I recall Jessica being vocal was if she had the chance to prove Nick wrong. But that was always playfully done and their classmates got a kick out of it.”

Berkman believes that she and Morrow helped each other achieve at a higher level.

“It’s not a bad competition and it’s cool that we have that,” she said. “It pushed me to beat him.

“I knew if I got an A-minus, I might drop (in class rank), so if I was sick or tired, I was like, ‘No, I need to study. This is what will determine my future.’ “

That future includes some uncertainties for Berkman, who will enroll at Washington University, in St. Louis in the fall.

She is considering a major in mathematics and biology with a minor in Spanish, but nothing is definite. She’s fine with that.

“It’s OK not to be sure,” she said. “It means anything is possible.”

Long-term, Berkman added, she could “see myself in a lab coat doing research.”

Though she is ready to embark on her college career, the lifelong Mahomet resident realizes what she will be leaving behind.

“My sister, Emily is a sophomore and I’m not looking forward to moving away from her,” Jessica Berkman said. “We study together every night.”

Potter is impressed by what he calls “the intangibles that (Berkman) brings to the classroom and the true joy she finds in learning (which) forms the foundation for her success in everything she does.”

Specifically, he said she interacts well with everyone.

“In group situations, Jessica also flourishes as an academic and a leader,” Potter said. “Whether it is a group of her choice or an assigned group, and whether it is with lower achieving students or students of similar educational ability, Jessica finds ways to add and contribute that truly makes the whole greater than the parts.

“She is adaptable and flexible and able to fill most any role to accomplish any task placed before her. Jessica is a disciplined and self-motivated learner; she chooses to always go above and beyond the status quo and is always an enthusiastic student. Jessica is truly motivated by an intrinsic love of learning, which is passed on to others she collaborates with.

“Jessica is a leader: whether in her extracurricular activities, the classroom, or simply in general interactions among her peers. When Jessica speaks or acts, students respond.”

Berkman found that her involvement on Math Team and WYSE provided benefits in her regular classroom setting.

“The more time I dedicated, the more it paid off,” she said. “It pushed my classroom interests.

“This year I ended up in the English portion of WYSE and it ended up also helping me in AP English. It was great going into the AP exam because I had hours and hours of study and analyzing literature.”

Berkman placed fourth in the Biology and English divisions of the WYSE state meet, helping M-S to a runner-up team finish.

As she contemplated her special teachers, Berkman discovered how difficult it was to shorten the list.

“All the teachers, in every course, care about the students and the subject material,” she said. “They make sure that each course is so fun and informative.

“Everyone feels the teachers are there for them. I am so lucky to have had all these fantastic teachers.”

Potter said that Berkman gets high marks in areas beyond what shows up on the report card.

“Not only is she an amazing student, but she has wisdom, maturity, and an overall moral character that surpasses most adults I know,” Potter said. “The honesty, integrity, and general good-decision making ability I see from Jessica has come to define who she is as a person and the direction she will pursue in college and as a career.

“As a father myself, I would present her as a model for younger children and students to aspire to.  When faced with adversity or uncertainty growing up in this world as an adolescent, she has always shown a strong character that I truly admire.”

Ryan said that to observe Berkman, it would be impossible to tell about all of her academic accolades and prowess.

“Jessica was more reserved in class, never needing to flaunt her genius, which I always admired,” Ryan said. “When someone is so grounded that you’d never know how accomplished they are by how they carry themselves, that says an awful lot.”