Byron Hildebrand

Tell us why you became a teacher

I love math. I saw early in my career that many children we hoo o said that they hate math had been taught to hate math by family members, close friends, and even some teachers. I saw an opportunity to change that in the lives of these students I made it a goal to get students to like math. Throughout my career I strived to make connections between real life situations and math on a level that students can understand. This allowed them to see that they would use math in the future.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

Having my students work on a math project that involved calculating how a person would jump from a carousel to a tank of water that was on a moving cart. Each individual had their own problem. They had six weeks of learning the math, every student solved the problem.the joy on their faces showed the satisfaction in doing this problem.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would take the majority of the money and invested into something that the public schools in my district could use to promote math.