ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606170021
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
SUSAN KENNEDY, recently named the American Association of University Women's Teacher of the Year in Virginia, says she tries to "avoid the nerd image.''
Susan Kennedy has been in love with math since she was a young girl, but she doesn't fit the stereotype of a calculus teacher.
She's 25, swims competitively, plays golf, goes hiking and attends tailgate parties at Virginia Tech football games.
"I try to be a normal and real person - to show my students that going off to college and being a math major doesn't mean the end of fun," Kennedy said. "I try to avoid the nerd image."
Her approach is working.
Kennedy was recently named the American Association of University Women's Teacher of the Year in Virginia. The award is given to teachers who have been successful in inspiring girls to go into science, math and technology fields.
"When I won the award in the Roanoke Valley, I thought that was wonderful. The best part was getting to read what my students had written about me," she said. "I didn't even give a thought to winning the state award."
A screening committee for the AAUW selected Kennedy from among local winners across the state. Students' remarks about teachers are a factor in the choice.
Five girls in Kennedy's calculus classes this year at the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology plan to major in math in college, as Kennedy did at Villanova University near Philadelphia. Several other girls in her classes will study the sciences.
"She's an inspiration, not only because of her age, but because of what she's done. She's gone to Villanova, done graduate work at Virginia Tech, and now she's teaching," said Kim Housman, a student from Franklin County.
Housman will attend Virginia Tech next year and study biology. She said Kennedy influenced her to consider becoming a biologist or possibly a doctor.
"I had not thought of going to college beyond four years until I had her for a class, but I see what she's done," Housman said.
The Governor's School is a regional program for motivated and intellectually talented students who are selected by the seven participating school divisions. Students spend half of their day at the Governor's School and the other half at their home high school.
The students said Kennedy relates to them well because of her youth.
"She's young, and she knows her material. She really prepares her students well for college," said Gordon Lawson, a student from Patrick Henry who attends the Governor's School.
Richard Shelly, the school's director, said Kennedy knows her subject and has the ability to "connect to the kids."
"It's very unusual to have both qualities in so young a teacher," he said
Kennedy decided to become a math teacher while she was in the second grade - and she began preparing early. While in elementary school, she would make her little sisters sit down and she would teach them math.
She got her love of the subject from her father, an engineer who wanted her to go into science. Kennedy said she had outstanding math teachers in middle and high school in Philadelphia who fostered her interest in the subject.
After earning a bachelor's degree at Villanova with a major in math and minor in education, Kennedy attended graduate school at Virginia Tech, where she obtained a master's degree and completed much of the course work for a doctoral degree. She is married to John Kennedy, a Tech student.
Kennedy was hired as a math teacher at the Governor's School midway through the 1994-95 school year when a position unexpectedly became open.
Besides calculus, she teaches a course in the fundamentals of research and directs the school's mentor program. The school calendar includes a minisemester between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays during which students can work with agencies or companies and do research on subjects of their choice. Kennedy said she does much of the background and scheduling work for the program during the summer.
"The day never ends at 3 p.m. when classes are over, but I enjoy it," she said. "Math has always been a love for me, and I still have the feeling. I'm lucky because I've got students who will do what you ask of them."
While she stresses academics and views her main job as teaching her students calculus, she said she also tries to understand the pressures and problems they face in their daily lives.
"I try to recognize that a student might be having a bad day or they might have broken up with a friend," she said. "When I don't see things like that and consider them, I want to get out of teaching."
Kennedy's approach is to help her students understand calculus and how to apply its principles - not rote memorization and homework assignments of repetitious problems.
"We have a motto in our class: `We will not memorize; we will understand,''' she said.
Kennedy said she gives difficult tests to her students, but she allows them to use calculators, books and other resource materials.
"She has a new way of teaching math and calculus that helps you learn not just the formulas, but to understand the reasons and principles behind the formulas," Lawson said.
Kennedy also requires her students to keep a math journal. They must record the data they collect to solve problems, and they have to explain the procedures they use.
And she gives her home phone number to students and invites them to call her if they have problems with their assignments.
Teaching at the Governor's School is demanding because the students are bright and expect teachers to be well prepared, Kennedy said. "I can't get away with a poor lesson. You can't fake anything. They'll catch you.
"When the year begins, I tell them that some of them are brighter than me, but I know calculus. So let's work together."
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff Susan Kennedy, a math teacher atby CNBRoanoke Valley's Governor's School, swims competitively, plays golf,
and hikes when she's out of the classroom. Color.