Mr. Scott French has taught math for over  20 years. Although Algebra strikes panic in the mind of the average student, French with his gregarious personality attempts to allay any fears. A mundane day in his class involves students willingly putting away their phones and paying attention to his dynamic lessons. During the lesson, French makes sure no one is confused; he welcomes and invites questions from students.

Mr. French takes the most complex factoring problem and “poof” simplifies the problem. To ensure that students learn, French provides numerous example practice problems to reinforce the day’s lesson. In the scenario in which a student does not understand a problem, French will patiently and personally explain the problem step by step and relentlessly attempt to “figure” out why the student is not grasping the concept. He states in class that he will explain a concept to any student as many times as needed, so long as the student is trying their best and reading their notes every single night. The jovial math wizard encourages all students to read their notes every day after class and email him with any questions to fulfill their curiosity.

In addition to maintaining a rich and open learning environment, French relishes interacting with students. He said, “My favorite part of teaching is the interaction with the students. Believe it or not, I enjoy interacting with the students,” stated French. Understandably, one aspect of teaching the math wizard does not enjoy is grading tests. I enjoy grading tests as much as students like taking them.”

With any wizard there are always a few surprises: French did not expect that he would become a teacher. Mr French also stated, “At one point I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. Another career I was interested in was an engineer.” However, he made his decision to become a teacher in his second year of college mainly due to his previous experiences of good and bad teachers. His primary goal as a teacher is to have a positive impact on young people which he successfully accomplishes every school day.

This year French is aiming to get back to the old version of himself. The version where he enjoys teaching and getting to know his students more. The amiable math wizard lives by the motto, “It doesn’t always have to be academic. Developing relationships and getting to better understand the students can be just as important.” Even though the last couple of years have been stressful due to myriad reasons, French looks forward to this year and aiding students academically and getting to know his class better.