After 20 years of dedication to his students and solving equations, we say goodbye to beloved math teacher, Mr. Birnbaum. Mr. Birnbaum has contributed so much to our math department here at JCHS, teaching all math classes except for Calculus and AP Statistics. Many students would not know important math skills needed for the future without the tremendous help of Mr. Birnbaum.
While teaching at JCHS, Mr. Birnbaum has connected with many of his staff members and students. What he will miss most from teaching here is all the friendships he has made with his coworkers and the laughs he shared with his classes. He not only provided students with these skills, but made classes an unforgettable experience. He has always lent a helping hand when students are struggling, always ready to teach and provide.
We asked him a few questions on his time here at JCHS:
What was one of the biggest lessons you learned from being a teacher?
“A lot of things. Especially about the students, you know how everyone is different. And how everyone is different to work with in different ways.”
Do you have any advice you would give to someone becoming a math teacher?
“The best advice is you really first have to love it — the subject you’re teaching — and really care, you know? Care about teaching, the students, and the people you work with. And have a lot of patience and a lot of creativity.”
Did you have any habits or routines you followed that you found to be successful while teaching?
“Well, I found one routine, I found students actually responded best to the same routines that developed over the years as to what worked best and best for the students, helping them to learn better.”
What will you not miss about working?
“The standardized testing, and teaching for the testing, and preparing for the testing. You know, that pressure it puts on students.”
What will you miss?
“Definitely will miss the students and the people I work with. Especially the Math department and the Administration.”
As one can see from Mr. Birnbaum’s responses, he cared greatly about his job and the impact he had on his students. The majority of his responses correlate with him making sure that his students always benefited from his teaching skills. This goes along with him not just seeing teaching as a job, but also as a responsibility to make sure his students are thriving. He also shows that he cares about the attention of the students by mentioning that it is important to have “a lot of patience and a lot of creativity” which goes hand in hand with his care for the students’ performance. His answers speak wonders to the kind of teacher and person Mr. Birnbaum is and how all his students are impacted by his leave. We will deeply miss him for his ability to engage with students in the classroom through rigorous lessons, yet cheerful experiences.
Mr. Birnbaum,
We hope that you have a happy retirement, and we will miss you! Thank you for your hard work and the impact you had at JCHS!
