[Wikimedia-l] Some sad news

Amy Vossbrinck avossbrinck at wikimedia.org
Wed Nov 20 17:33:09 UTC 2013


Never let it be said that one person can't make a difference.  Clearly this
young man was all about reaching out to others and making an impact
everywhere he went.  The planet and many people on it benefited from his
kindness for the brief time he was here.

Thank you, Jackson for all you gave to make the word a better place.


On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Jake Orlowitz <jorlowitz at gmail.com> wrote:

> User:Jackson Peebles is no longer with us, he passed away in late
> October. Jackson was a Western Michigan University Honors student
> studying behavioral science and biology. He worked as an ice hockey
> referreee and volunteered with the Red Cross. His Wikipedia efforts
> focused on counter-vandalism and adoption, "greeting new users,
> encouraging civility, and [obsessively] reviewing recent changes".
>
> Jackson was a Teahouse host, an instructor in the Education Program,
> and the lead on a Video Tutorials Project through the WMF. User:Go
> Phightins! originaly adopted Jackson but he went on to run his own
> adoption school and facilitated a Western Michigan University course
> himself. Among his userboxes he said, "This user is not a Wikipedia
> administrator but would like to be one someday."
>
> Jackson was born in 1992 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He graduated Mattawan
> High School and was Senior Class President there. At Western Michigan
> University, he was a 2011 Medallion Scholar. He worked at the Waldo
> Library at the reference desk and volunteered for the National
> Alliance for Mental Illness. He was one of three students in the
> nation invited to represent the US at the International Red Cross and
> Red Crescent’s Global Youth Conference in Vienna in 2012.
>
> Jackson had recently proposed a WMF Individual Engagment Grant called
> Reimagining Wikipedia Mentorship. "I think this project is incredibly
> important and should be pursued," User:EpochFail wrote in an
> endorsement. The grant scored highly and looked likely to be funded.
> "A very interesting concept...may become a 'keystone piece' in the new
> editor onboarding process." wrote one IEG committee member. Another
> wrote, "Taking a 'Teahouse approach' in building sustained motivation
> and preventing editor dropouts is a wonderful opportunity to develop a
> true mentor-mentee support system that would increase the activity of
> new contributors." Finally, "Proposers are highly qualified and driven
> mentors with a useful background in teaching new editors and
> understanding the learning process."
>
> He was excitedly planning a trip to Australia in the coming weeks.
>
> On Wikipedia, Jackson earned barnstars in Mentorship, Random Acts of
> Kindness and Resilience. Friends and teachers glowingly recalled his
> sense of humor and his hard work ethic.
>
> His last edit to our site was on October 21 2013, the day he died.
> Jackson welcomed an i.p. editor to Wikipedia: "Thank you for your
> contributions, such as the one you made to Nikah mut‘ah. I hope you
> like the place and decide to stay."
>
> Please leave remembrances and condolences at
> http://enwp.org/User_talk:Jackson_Peebes. We'll try and contact the
> family and share your thoughts with them. You can read more
> reflections on Jackson's amazing life there. Donations to the
> Kalamazoo NAMI chapter would have made Jackson very happy and are the
> family's wish.
>
> --Ocaasi14:26, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
>
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-- 
*Amy Vossbrinck*
*Executive Assistant to the*
*Chief of Finance and Administration*
*Wikimedia Foundation*
*149 New Montgomery Street*
*San Francisco, CA 94105*
*415.839.6885  ext 6628*
*avossbrinck at wikimedia.org <avossbrinck at wikimedia.org>*


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