a love for math

By Kyle Jasmine 

Annabel Pham loves to teach math. And she can relate to students who struggle with the subject. She also struggled with it in the past in high school. 

But with the help of an amazing teacher, and because she was a tutor for her friends in college, this passion ultimately led her to become a math teacher at YB.

Pham first started to like math during 6th grade and she went to a tutor because she was struggling with math and after she walked in the rest was history. He was an amazing teacher who helped her realize how good she was at math. 

Pham: “It was actually an old teacher of mine. He was a tutor in sixth grade, I started struggling with math, and I realized I needed help. I needed a tutor. I walked into the tutoring room and the rest is history. He was an amazing teacher, and I realized that I was actually really good at math because of him.”

After she was done with high school she thought about what she wanted to do for her career and for her it just made sense to become a math teacher because she tutored through high school and her first job was at a tutoring center.

Pham: “So I got through all of high school and then when it came time to start thinking about what I wanted to do for my career, I was like, okay, it just makes sense that I become a math teacher, I tutored throughout high school, did a lot of that my first job was at a tutoring center. So I just pursued that passion.” 

But this wasn't the only reason she is teaching because she likes how math can be creative and could be translated into other subjects because she likes how you can approach any single problem with not just one solution but multiple solutions. 

Pham: “ I like that. It's creative and that it translates itself into different Subject areas as well. So what I mean by creative is that when you approach any single problem, it's not a one solution, it's all there's going to be multiple ways for anyone to figure something out, and it's something that I try to foster within my students” 

She is also trying to teach her students how you have to show work on how you solved the problem in math which could help you preserve not just in math but in real life also.

Pham: “The other thing is that when you learn about math, the arguments that you have to write the proofs you have to write and how you solve different problems, it helps you persevere, not just in math, but in other areas of your own life as well. Can you make a solid argument?” 

After all that she still needed to find a place to teach at. When she was at Evergreen Valley High School that was the first time she ever heard about YB. But she only attended or enrolled her after she decided to become a long term substitute teacher here at YB.

Pham: “I first learned about YB when I was a student here, so I was an alumni of evergreen valley high school, but because I was within the district I did hear about YB, but I'd never attended or enrolled here until I became a long-term sub.” 

After she was done with working as a long term substitute teacher here at YB she decided to become a teacher because she realized that the best part about working here was the students. But that wasn’t the only reason why she wanted to work here. It was because of the culture, the community, and because she didn’t want to commute too far from home.

Pham: “I decided to teach her after I realized that the students were the best part about working at this school as a long-term sub here. I realized that the culture and the community that a school like YB fosters was something that I really valued. In addition to that, I'm also very familiar with east side. Union high school district, so I wanted to stay within the district and not commute too far from home. So yeah, that was my decision.”

Now Ms. Pham teaches her students that math is not something to hate. It's something that you should enjoy because it can teach you how to be creative and that it could help you out in other subjects that you are learning in school.