Math Teacher

Devin Michael Spence, a teacher at Manchester Valley High School who died Monday, Feb. 11, in a car accident, will be remembered for his big heart and kind soul, according to those who knew him. Spence, 23, was killed after his car crashed into a private school bus and burst into flames Monday morning. The Carroll County Sheriff's Department reported to the scene and believe icy roads played a part in the accident. A math teacher, Spence joined the staff at Manchester Valley High School last August, according to Randy Clark, Manchester Valley's principal.

Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts educator Sean McComb fondly recalls a high school English teacher who led him to see the world differently through books and a mentor from the student-run cable station who helped him to host his own weekly sports show. On Monday, McComb, 29, was honored as Baltimore County's 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year for, among other things, being an example of one who inspires and supports his students. "The teachers that I had in 10th, 11th, 12th grade were the models, and what they did for me made me believe it was possible to do that for other people," said McComb, a Joppa resident who is an English teacher and coordinates the school's AVID college prep program.

Manchester Valley High School junior Jenna Klaverweiden said something was missing when school let out on Friday. She had become used to seeing math teacher Devin Spence sending his students off at the start of each weekend with words of encouragement … and a challenge. "Have a good weekend" she recalled him saying, "and make good choices. " At a memorial service Saturday afternoon for Spence — who died this week in a car accident on his way to the school — teachers, students and family members recalled the choices he had made for himself.

Devin Michael Spence, a teacher at Manchester Valley High School who died Monday, Feb. 11, in a car accident, will be remembered for his big heart and kind soul, according to those who knew him. Spence, 23, was killed after his car crashed into a private school bus and burst into flames Monday morning. The Carroll County Sheriff's Department reported to the scene and believe icy roads played a part in the accident. A math teacher, Spence joined the staff at Manchester Valley High School last August, according to Randy Clark, Manchester Valley's principal.

Sister Rose Ellen McDade, a retired Catholic schools math teacher, died of Alzheimer's disease Friday at her order's retirement home in Aston, Pa. She was 92. Born Rose Helena McDade in Jenners, Pa., she moved to Cumberland as a girl and graduated from Catholic Girls' Central High School. She entered the Franciscan Sisters of Philadelphia in 1943, and earned a bachelor of science from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg and a master's degree from Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind. A math teacher, she was awarded grants to study at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

Ozro Richard "Dick" Steigelman, a longtime math teacher at Hereford High School and former Air Force pilot, died Wednesday at his Monkton home after years of poor health. He was 75. Born in York, Pa., he moved to Georgetown, Del., at age 6 and graduated from Georgetown High School in 1949. He went on to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he graduated in 1954. After West Point, he entered the Air Force and flew large transport planes and also U-2 spy planes on covert missions.

WHEN SAM Brown walked into Baltimore Polytechnic Institute that September day in 1967, it all seemed quite appropriate. Brown, who had wanted to be a math teacher since he was in junior high school, was starting his first teaching job. Poly was in its first year at a new location, having moved to its current Falls Road site from the school's decades-long digs at North Avenue and Calvert Street. Brown has been at the same place ever since. For the past 38 years, he has taught math, acted as adviser to clubs, served as chairman of the math department, been a vice principal, been instrumental in getting the school's first black principal hired and developed the calculus course every Poly student must take before he or she graduates.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- "People think of me as a nerd -- or a fanatic," says Remo Ciccone, 39, a teacher of calculus at Henderson Senior High School in West Chester, where he puts in an average of 70 hours a week.Having trouble with an equation or theorem? See Mr. Ciccone after school. Got a football practice or band rehearsal after school? No sweat. Drop by after your commitment or on your lunch hour or during study hall. The connoisseur of calc is always there, haunting the classrooms and hallways in a manner that suggests to students that they can run, but they can't hide.

When Hammond High School teacher Linda Kreitlow left for Russia three weeks ago, she was unaware that the math conference she was to attend would place her in a city torn by insurrection.At least 100 people were killed in two days of fighting earlier this month, which culminated when troops loyal to Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin stormed the parliament building with tanks and forced hundreds of hard-liners to surrender.Mrs. Kreitlow and her group, while not witnesses to the fighting, saw the military blockades, heard automatic weapons fire in the night and shared the tension of their hosts.

Math was not Anshu Randhawa's favorite subject in school. But Patuxent Valley Middle School in Jessup was seeking a math instructor, and Randhawa was looking for a teaching job after completing a stint in the Peace Corps. So, for the past seven years, she has been teaching math to middle-schoolers in Howard County - engaging number-fearing pupils with her innovative lessons. "They needed a math teacher," Randhawa recalled. "I fell into it, loved it and never left." Yesterday, Randhawa, now a sixth-grade math teacher at Folly Quarter Middle School, was recognized as an American Star of Teaching by the U.S. Department of Education for improving student performance and making a difference in her pupils' lives.

Manchester Valley High School junior Jenna Klaverweiden said something was missing when school let out on Friday. She had become used to seeing math teacher Devin Spence sending his students off at the start of each weekend with words of encouragement … and a challenge. "Have a good weekend" she recalled him saying, "and make good choices. " At a memorial service Saturday afternoon for Spence — who died this week in a car accident on his way to the school — teachers, students and family members recalled the choices he had made for himself.

A math teacher at Manchester Valley High School in Carroll County died Monday in a car accident that also involved a private school bus. Devin Michael Spence, 24, of Westminster, was killed in the crash when his 2001 Ford Focus collided with the bus, according to the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. Five students and a driver were on the bus, which was transporting students to Delone Catholic High School in Pennsylvania. No one on the bus was injured. According to the Sheriff's Office, the accident occurred just before 7 a.m. on Sullivan Road near its intersection with Route 27, between Westminster and Manchester.

Shirley R. More, a retired social worker who earlier had been a Baltimore County public school teacher, died Monday from complications of Alzheimer's disease at Bonnie Blink, the Maryland Masonic Home in Hunt Valley, where she had moved this year. She was 90. The daughter of Walter A. Reed, a bank president, and Agnes Gordon Reed, a homemaker, Shirley Agnes Reed was born and raised in Corning, N.Y., where she graduated from high school in 1940. After earning a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1944 from Albany State Teachers College — now the State University at Albany — she began teaching math at Oneonta High School in Oneonta, N.Y. A graduate of the school, Capt.

It looked doubtful that the entire group of 40 third-, fourth- and fifth-grade girls from Baltimore City's Edgewood Elementary would complete a mile run when they took the track last spring. One girl vomited. Other girls wiped away tears as they began to get muscle cramps midway through. But each girl finished. "It wasn't pretty," recalled Kaitlin Loftus, a math teacher at the school who trained the girls to get them prepared for the challenge. "But each girl wanted to complete the run. " She added: "It was amazing.

Soon, there will be no separation of church and state if Maryland's same-sex marriage law goes to a referendum. The state is permitting a congregation of folks to impose their religious beliefs on the secular public. We don't need a math teacher to deduce that the signers of the current petition are largely people of faith. By accepting the petition, religion wins and nonbelievers - who though in the minority are still voters and taxpayers - are dismissed as sinners. Same-sex marriage and abortion are private matters for individuals to decide, not the will of God. The state should steer clear of any legislation regarding these matters.

Towson University will receive $2 million in state and private grant funds to start a new program designed to increase production of math and science teachers. The initiative will be based on the 15-year-old UTeach program, which more than doubled the output of math and science teachers at the University of Texas in Austin and is widely regarded as a model for training teachers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. UTeach offers financial incentives for math, science and computer science majors to train and enter the workforce as teachers.

Azur Oducayen has had to get used to a lot of new things in his first year teaching and living in the United States - children who try to cut class, calling fellow teachers and supervisors by their first names, and, well, snow. Oducayen, 31, emigrated from the Philippines last fall to teach math at Magothy River Middle School in Arnold. As his second year begins, he said, he is more relaxed and prepared to manage his class of American students. One reason is that he can do it with his wife, Maribeth, and 3-year-old daughter, Blaise, by his side.

After more than half a century of unraveling the mysteries of algebra and calculus for midshipmen at the Naval Academy, Professor Theodore J. Benac sees no reason to quit now."I guess I just love talking to a captive audience," said the 83-year-old teacher, the oldest faculty member at the academy.While most people in his generation are winding down, Dr. Benac is still going strong. He rises every morning at 7 o'clock and walks the mile and a half from his Annapolis home to work."Why should I retire?"

Baltimore County school officials told middle and high school principals last week that they must limit the number of leadership positions next year to save $814,000, a move teachers say means schools have again been targeted for cuts. The decision will strip the title and pay from some teachers who act as department chairs and perform certain roles, including helping principals evaluate teachers, making sure books and supplies are evenly distributed, and deciding how curriculum will be taught.