Rachel Hughes - Math
Rachel's love and interest in math started in junior high. She was home-schooled at the time and enjoyed the curriculum she and here mom were using, and she became hooked. There was not a specific moment or day when she started enjoying math; it kind of just started from the beginning and progressed. Rachel went to a public high school where she continued to learn herlove for math. She had an amazing math teacher, Mrs. Casper. This teacher of Rachel's was her math teacher her sophomore year through her senior year for Algebra 2, Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus, and Calculus. It was in the back of Rachel's mind that she could be interested in becoming a math teacher, but she just was not sure it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. As Rachel went through her math classes with Mrs. Casper, she began to realize that she did have a passion for teaching and incorporating her love for math into her teaching.
Mrs. Casper connected well with every student in her class, made math enjoyable, was approachable, and could connect with students on different levels and explain math in a way students could understand. She inspired Rachel to start looking into becoming a math teacher. In Rachel's senior year of high school, Mrs. Casper and she were featured in their communities newspaper. The article explained the way Mrs. Casper taught, the way she has inspired Rachel to become a teacher, and the influence she had on Rachel's life. From that day, Rachel knew she wanted to become a math teacher. Throughout her college education, Rachel is required to have three practicums where she have been placed in a classroom to observe the classroom, learn different techniques in teaching, and practice teaching lessons. She has a passion for high school age students, and she loves being around them. It brings her a joy to work with students and incorpate her love for math. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 and will do her student teaching in the fall. She is currently the Vice President of "Kappa Mu Epsilon" (KME), which is the honors math club at Evangel.