Connect Tell us why you became a teacher

My biggest reason among many for becoming a teacher is because, as a student, teachers showed me they had low expectations for me compared to the expectations of other students due to my ethnicity, so I wanted to make sure all students understood they could succeed no matter their background or circumstances. I also wanted to share my special talent for making math easy and fun. We all love to play games, why not learn useful real-world math while playing!

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My most memorable teaching experience is when I helped a student with similar health issues to mine, to not allow her disabilities to hold her back from recognizing she could make her big dream come true of trying out for the Olympics and she did!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would fund my recent Grant Project InterActivate: Expanding Learning Horizons Through Mobile Projection Technology. Mobile Projection is like playing video games where the entire room is a touch responsive gaming environment, but the student is the avatar character, so they are actively moving and improving their health while also mastering a variety of educational skills. The best part is, if a student is behind in their learning, it helps them to catch up quickly and have fun while doing it!