Inspiring a Math Teacher

Amy Jurasek is a math teacher at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, who participated in our 2024 Research Experience for Teachers program.

As a teacher, Amy is inspired to develop lessons integrating environmental themes into mathematical problem-solving activities. She wants her students to understand the relevance of algebra and geometry to solving real-world problems.

Here is what she had to say at the end of the summer: “As teachers, we are used to being well prepared before class starts. In the field, it is impossible to have an exact plan as the weather changes, research is modified, and people are not always predictable. Our leader was phenomenal in keeping the projects going, touching base with people multiple times throughout the day, and adapting on the fly to the various situations that arose.

There are times in the classroom when I need to better adapt to what is going on with students and realize the importance of small pick-me-ups when engagement is waning. In the field, being given a doable task quickly put me at ease. These are all things that I already know would provide a better classroom environment, but the work in the field really reinforced the concepts.”

You can learn more about Amy’s project at https://www.regenpgc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Amy-Jurasek-poster-2024.pdf.