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Police find former teacher in back seat of car with boy

Submitted by WWAY on Tue, 05/26/2009 - 5:31pm.READ MORE: Police find former teacher in back seat of car with boy
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A former Williston Middle School teacher is in hot water after police found her in the back seat of a car with a fifteen-year-old boy early Saturday morning. Jessica Wishnask worked at Williston for two years before recently resigning. According to New Hanover County Schools, Jessica Wishnask left in December 2008, for "personal" reasons. Police found the 27-year-old former 7th grade Williston teacher and a fifteen-year-old boy in the 300 block of Market Street around 4:30 Saturday morning. This comes as a shock to New Hanover County School officials who pride themselves on their extensive background checks for all their employees. "We do everything we can to make sure there are no indicators at all that the person would be a danger to a student,” said NHC Assistant Superintendent John Welmers. Neighbors said Jessica Wishnask moved out of a home on Amber Pines Drive in Leland about three months ago. She and her husband have a young daughter together, and are in the middle of a separation. According to the State Board of Education, she is a licensed teacher, but if the 15-year-old turns out to have been one of her students, the State Ethics Commission has the power to revoke her license. After more than 30 years working in education, Assistant Superintendent John Welmers said incidents like this are rare. "Anytime a student is involved in anything like this, that a student can be impacted by the actions of a teacher, we also hate it for the teacher, and what is she doing with her life and her personal career, so we were all sad to hear it."

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Product of the 60's and 70's

Submitted by Guest100 (not verified) on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 6:38am.
I went to New Hanover County schools in the 60' and 70's and what this teacher is charged with is nothing new. There is a reason for Van Halen song "Hot for Teacher".
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The difference a few decades make

Submitted by irish1 (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 10:43am.
Back in the early 70's a movie called "The Summer Of 42" won critical acclaim dealing with a teens first sexual experience and it was with an older woman. The movie was nominated for 4 Oscars winning one. Now, I can't help but to wonder how a teen age boy having sex with an older woman went from being lucky and accepted to abuse in the past 30 years. I mean, one poster is asking for DSS to get involved and punish the boys parents because a teen age boy snuck out of his house to have sex with an older woman. I really don't think the parents can be held responsible for not being able to curb the biggest force in nature. Maybe it's because I'm a man and I have a different perspective of it, but I see the parents of other boys that have been caught having sex with their teacher and it's always the mother that is the most vocal and upset. The men just stand there with a look on their face that almost says to me .... "That's my boy" .. I will however say, that yes ... I am very double standard about the issue. If it's a girl with a much older man, I think it's a crime. But if somebody really thinks something like this scars the boy ... they are mistaken.
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Hot for teacher's administrators

Submitted by Student once (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 10:19am.
This teacher, married mother of a sweet little girl, found the rationale somewhere in her twisted mind to lay with a 15 year old boy. I'm sure she will say it was because of one thing or another but the poop that should be hitting the fan is how many administrators knew about her and did NOTHING? I hope the kid was one of her ex-students and his parents sue the mess out of the school system.
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underage sex

Submitted by larry (not verified) on Sat, 07/16/2011 - 4:12pm.

I bet the boy loved it

I was 9 years old and I had many an afternoon enjoying it with my school teacher. She lived in the apartment below ours and I used to go there for extra lessons, stay for one or 2 hours and have a lovely time. At 16 or 17 I had a liason with my bioloy teacher. She was married and had one kid much yonger than me. After a while I srted having affairs with her cousin that was a kindergarden teacher.
I loved it all, there is nothing wrong with me and now I enjoy affairs with women much yonger than me Now I am 64 and my wife is 35. I married her when she was 18 and now have two sons.

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Unless the parents could

Submitted by Guest1636 (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 3:54pm.
Unless the parents could prove the school system itself was involved in willful misconduct (like hiring someone who had a history of sex crimes or trying to sweep a teacher's misconduct under the rug), the school has soveriegn imunity to lawsuits. Any lawsuits will be thrown out of court.
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Sue the school for what???

Submitted by come on! (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 12:46pm.
Sue the school for what??? Someone who has no history of any wrongdoing at all is capable of this. There is no way for the school to read minds!
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will the parents be charged? I hope so

Submitted by guesty on Tue, 05/26/2009 - 10:17pm.
What kind of parents allows their 15 year old CHILD to be out at 4:30 in the morning? They also need to be charged for allowing their child to be out and need the have DSS investigate them.
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Deep Sleep

Submitted by Guest100 (not verified) on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 7:53am.
I don't know about everyone else but once I go to sleep I don't hear a thing. So someone sneaking out would be easy. Myrtle Beach passed a curfew banning anyone under 18 from being on a public street from 1:00 am to 6:00 am. Maybe the city of Wilmington and New Hanover county could pass a curfew too!
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You are mistaken if you

Submitted by youaremistaken (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 12:44pm.
You are mistaken if you think a parent can always know when the child sneaks out. That is why we call it "sneaking" out and not "go tell your parents you are leaving the house" out. Be rational. The teacher should be targeted for having sex with a minor. She is the bad party here. It is definately not the school system either. People with no history of this behavior can do these things as well. Lets get real here.
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Being a teenager once

Submitted by akirasmaster (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 9:43am.
Being a teenager once myself....how hard is it to sneak out of your parents house? I doubt the parents ALLOWED this. Teenage hormones can be a powerfull motivator. Think about this before you make such a kneejerk comment
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No kneejerking here

Submitted by guesty on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 11:38am.
And fear of a parents repercussions can also be a more powerful motivator. That is if the parents are willing to take that responsibility and act like parents.
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My point is Gusty, don't

Submitted by akirasmaster (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 12:52pm.
My point is Gusty, don't assume the parents knew anything about it or much less encouraged it. Were you a teen? Did you ever do anything behind your parents back and didn't get caught? Or, if you did get caught, did your parents take the blame? Are you a parent? Do you think you know (or knew) everything your child is doing? Don't assume a posistion of morality without fact-checking your own life. It's very close minded to point the finger at the parents. Besides, don't you think Mom and Dad have this kid tied up tight right now? Why twist the screws? Lets say DSS gets involved. Lets say the worst happens and the parents are charged with neglect and the child is taken away. How does this help? What you propose used to be called a "drum head" trial. It's one thing to be passionate about a subject, it's another thing to be ignorant.
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totally agree

Submitted by anne (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 9:32am.
I totally agree with you. Someone needs to look at the parents of this 15 year old and find out why he was out at that time of the morning. This is no way excuses the teacher for what she has done. She has no defense! I can't understand why we have seen such a disturbing trend with teachers, both male and female, getting involved with students or underage kids. What makes it worth throwing away your career, family, and reputation? And do they really consider the ramifications to the children that they are molesting? And yes, it is molestation!!!!
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The reason we are seeing

Submitted by Guest36528974 (not verified) on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 3:16pm.
The reason we are seeing such an increase is because children have a much better understanding of sex at a much earlier age than in the past. This is because they are exposed to it more often. Blame the media for this. Television, movies, music, clothing....everywhere has some sort of sexual conotation or theme. Most of these so called "children"nowadays are the ones putting the moves on adults. They know what they are doing. However, this in no way excuses the adult. Just as if a grown woman hits on a married man he must have the intestinal fortitude to control his sexual instincts. This is one of the attributes that seperates us from a common animal. However, this teacher must serve her punishment and the student. If the student receives no reprimand he will just move on to the next adult and do the same thing. The question is...will this person have enough control to do what's right?
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