Teacher Appreciation at Mathnasium HQ: Tanika Evans Thanks Mr. Walters

We're thrilled with the response we've gotten to our Teacher Appreciation Facebook celebration, and we want to keep the teacher love going this week on the blog! We've asked a few of our math experts here at Mathnasium HQ to share the teachers who have inspired them and transformed their lives.

Today we are pleased to welcome Tanika Evans, Education Systems Manager, to the blog to share her teacher hero with us!

"Here at HQ I analyze Mathnasium franchisee feedback and help design and improve existing education systems and curriculum.

Luckily I have benefited from a ridiculous number of teachers who were awesome and shaped the course of my life at various stages. However, I'll just pick one special teacher to thank today. Mr. Walters was a teacher I had for both physics and calculus in high school. He was the first person who really opened up the concept that there is more to both math and science that just rote memorization. He showed me that with the right skills I could be faster and more accurate than a calculator with computation and showed me how to tell whether answers were reasonable by doing unit analysis and examining the order of magnitude my answer should be. He went on to show me how to really use all the features of programmable graphing calculators. Mr. Walters made calculus and physics fun for me, and it explains why I went on to study them at university.

Mr. Walters, I would like to thank you for taking the time to care, for going the extra mile for all your students, and for making math and science make sense. Your positive impact didn't just stop with me—it has gone on to help hundreds of other students who I have been able to help over the years. Thank you!"

We want to hear about YOUR teacher heroes! Do you have a teacher who has changed your life for the better? Know of a teacher who goes above and beyond the call of duty and transforms his/her students lives? Email us at [email protected] to nominate an extraordinary teacher in your life for the chance to win a special "thank you" Mathnasium prize pack!