Hannah Jukovsky was born in 1984 and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a family of Jewish and Catholic heritage. Her parents exposed her to political ideas at the dinner table, where they discussed issues such as rent control. Jukovsky was also influenced by her grandmothers, who have provided her with role models of strength and community spirit. As a student in the diverse Cambridge public schools, Jukovsky learned about class and race stratification.

Jukovsky became a leader of anti-MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) activism at Cambridge Rindge and Latin school, where she organized an MCAS boycott and teach-in. The boycott and teach-in provided opportunities for dialogue and alliances among students who do not usually associate with one another and taught students how to get involved in local and state political issues. Jukovsky's activism was influenced by her experiences in Project HIP-HOP (Highways into the Past, History, Organizing and Power). This program, which brings high school students from the Boston area on a civil rights tour of the South, taught Jukovsky about American history, the political system, and the struggle against racism and oppression.

Jukovsky continues to be involved in issues of education reform and is considering a career in education. She lives in Cambridge with her parents and sister.

ON JEWISH VALUES

So much of the kind of more socialistic aspects of the social justice movement have been Jewish that it gets associated ...More 

ON FAMILY UPBRINGING

My mom and dad both are really interested in social justice issues and bigger ideas of ...More 

[My grandmother] has all these different observations about how the country changed. And it's an interesting thing to look at ...More 

ON ROLE MODELS

My mom is the coolest... she feeds everybody, she likes all my friends. She's just the greatest mom ever. She packs me lunch. It's incredible. And she puts in a 50-60 hour work-week ...More 

As far as organizing and breaking down situations and things like that, my mom is just incredible ...More 

ON IMPACT ON WORLD

I think that it gives students more faith in their voices being heard ...More 

ON IMPACT ON SELF

I'm the MCAS girl - I get called the MCAS girl. It's just couched the way I think in completely different terms ...More 

ON CHALLENGES

[The most challenging thing was] the apathy. Teenagers are just masters of apathy ...More 

ON REWARDS

[The most rewarding thing was that] it really exposed a lot of groups of people in the high school to each other ...More 

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	Audio  Answer - Impact on World (Hannah Jukovsky)
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