The average age of instructors in the math department has decreased recently, with the addition of student teachers to several classrooms. Nicole Yoder, student teacher for Geoff Estes, is completing her B.S in math and Secondary Education Licensure at Eastern Mennonite University.

“At this placement, [the requirements aren’t] super laid out. I have to take over and do as much teaching as possible, and then Mr. Estes will observe me five times and do a couple of evaluations, and then I also have professors that will come in and do a midterm and final evaluation,” Yoder said.

Yoder has previously student taught at THMS. She’s enjoying the diversity of classes that she gets to observe and teach at this student teacher placement.

“This placement is really exciting because my cooperating teacher teaches such unique, exciting classes, like Intro to Robotics and Calc 1 and Calc 2,” Yoder said. “It balances well with my other placement.”

Although Yoder plans on becoming a teacher now, that wasn’t always the case. She was initially resistant to follow in the footsteps of her mother, a math teacher, and her two older sisters, elementary education majors.

“I ended up tutoring some girls on my hall and doing a couple of other things and I eventually changed my mind and realized that I liked teaching more than I wanted to admit,” Yoder said.

James Bywater’s student teacher, Jordan Wilson, is getting her Masters in Education from James Madison University.

“I have a thesis that I’m working on to see if I’m an effective teacher,” Wilson said.

Like Yoder, Wilson has also had previous student teaching experiences.

“[I was most excited for] the diversity. I haven’t seen that in my other placements,” Wilson said, of coming to HHS.

Wilson has drawn inspiration for her career from her own high school experiences.

“I was inspired by my own high school math teacher,” Wilson said. “A lot of kids think math is scary, and I want to show them that it’s not.”

Wilson hopes to expand her knowledge of the math curriculum and learn different teaching approaches while at HHS. Yoder, too, thinks that this will be a significant learning experience, and she’s already picked up a few things from watching Estes.

“[I’ve learned that] having a genuine interest in the content is obviously really important, and good relationships with the students- being able to talk to them not just about math, but about other areas of their lives,” Yoder said.

After completing their placement, Yoder and Wilson will be one step close to receiving a diploma, and one step closer to leading a classroom of their own.