Meredith Berrier, 12th Grade Geometry and Algebra II
Jaime Escalante Mathematics Teacher Awards 1996
Teacher: Lisa Young, Cleveland High School, Los Angeles Unified School District
My math teacher changed the way I feel about my ability to succeed in math by showing me that, with practice and a little bit of time and patience, I could get the job done. She showed me that I can do anything I set my mind to, especially math, and that I could succeed in any math class as long as I put my mind to it and worked diligently to understand it through practice.
My math teacher changed my understanding and attitude toward learning math by showing me, through creative and interesting examples, that math could be fun and exciting. She also showed me that math is very practical and important in every day life, coming up with many projects that helped us learn math and improve our other skills.
For example, in her geometry class, she had the class write a newspaper using math terms. The newspaper project was very challenging, but it gave me a better understanding of geometry.
Every morning in class, we would do a warm up math problem, and my teacher spent a lot of time going over problems, always being sure to include the whole class and having us do problems on the board, to prove we understood. If we didn't understand, she would go over it with us again and again, even if it took all period.
My math teacher always encouraged me to reach higher goals by making me feel that the goals I set were attainable, and she made me feel good when I succeeded. When I didn't do well, she always made me feel that I could do better next time by just working a little bit harder, and it always paid off.
There are many qualities about my math teacher that make her special to me - she is a great teacher, she inspired me to become a math teacher myself, and she is a good friend. I can tell she really loves her job, knows her subject very well, and enjoys helping all of her students understand and enjoy math, too.
