Marley Pierce was born in San Francisco but moved shortly after to Denver, Colorado where she grew up. Pierce considers home to be wherever her people are. She said, “In all places, the people are what matter to me.” After graduating from Brown University, Pierce moved back to the Bay Area in 2013 and began teaching.
In college, Pierce studied ethnic studies. It was always in the realm of possibility for Pierce to become a teacher as she always enjoyed working with kids and did lots of babysitting in high school and while home from college. Pierce said, “It just sort of felt like a natural fit. For me, any topic I study or learn about, all I wanna do is talk to other people about it, so in many ways it just sort of made sense and I knew I enjoyed working with kids.”
photo courtesy of Fund For Our New Leadership
Right out of college, Pierce worked as an elementary special education teacher in Richmond, California. Looking for a new opportunity, Pierce applied to admissions at LWHS but was informed that they had already filled the position and that she could be a good fit with the school in a different department. Pierce originally started at LWHS in 2014 with split time between working in communications as a web editor and working in the Center for Civic Engagement.
After her first year, Pierce dropped the web editing and began working full-time in the Center. Three years later, at 25, Pierce wanted to explore something new and was curious about what else was out there.
Even though Pierce grew up in Colorado, she didn’t participate in many outdoor activities growing up in the city with her family. Pierce always admired the mountains from afar but didn’t establish her passion for hiking until moving to the Bay Area.
After coming to the Bay Area as an adult, Pierce started to explore hiking and was inspired to become an outdoor educator. Pierce then went to work for Nature Bridge with their Educator Development program which recruits people from underrepresented backgrounds into the outdoors. Pierce thought, “This is a cool way to live somewhere really beautiful.” Pierce spent the summer in Yosemite with other people of color learning about how to be an outdoor teacher.
Pierce became friends with many people who lived very outdoor-oriented lives including some who were big fans of the Pacific Crest Trail. One night, talking to them, Pierce felt moved to make it happen and to hike it herself.
Pierce had never done anything like it before. She said, “I can be an intense person, not in a bad way, but I think once I make up my mind to do something I’m like ‘okay great! Let me just execute the plan.’” Pierce prepared by reading the extensive available literature about it, talking to friends who had done it, and was also hiking daily while working at Nature Bridge. Though the hiking distances working in the Marin Headlands were nothing compared to the daily journeys of the PCT, Pierce said that “Because you are doing it for five months, your body adapts and surprises you.”
After hiking the PCT, Pierce learned of an open position at LWHS from World and U.S. History teacher Yeshi Gusfield. Pierce applied, was hired for the role, and then taught remotely for a year before coming back in person for the 2021-2022 school year.
Pierce still loves to walk places and walks a lot. Pierce also enjoys word games, puzzles, and spending time with friends and family.
Pierce says that in a lot of ways, she is still fundamentally the same as she was in high school. Pierce was a good student and knew how to perform well, and describes herself as a “Newspaper, speech and debate nerd.”
Being a highly people-oriented and extroverted person, Pierce explained, “I love just being around other people’s energy, it brings me joy and meaning. I think when you’re a classroom teacher or you work at a school, you get to see so many different kinds of people in one day and that’s a very dynamic thing.”
Pierce is early to bed and early to rise. She said, “I do keep grandma hours.” She enjoys the quietness of the morning and the feeling of a new day with so much potential. Pierce would embark on a scenic, tree-filled walk with good company. Maybe read the same book and talk about it later over a sushi dinner and evening of board games. Pierce has been especially enjoying the board games “Wingspan” and another called “Oath.”
Pierce has also been enjoying being a “home vegan,” only eating meat and meat-related items when out or if someone gifts them.
As for the future, Pierce doesn’t know exactly what is coming next. She said, “We’ll see what the universe sends me and I’m gonna trust myself to know how to press on the brakes or the accelerator when I need to.”
