The undisputed fastest grader in WCHS history. A highly caring teacher his students come to know well and love. A stickler for attendance because he knows that being present in the classroom is what allows his students to learn as much as possible.
Mr. Stephen Wilson is officially February 2024’s teacher of the month. This makes him the first two-time math teacher TOTM winner in Observer history
“I am very honored to be nominated for this award,” Wilson said. “I do not take it lightly.”
For as long as he remembers, math has been a part of Wilson’s life. Using the Pythagorean theorem to find out how far he could throw a football and using statistics to conclude that he would never play the lottery, it spread beyond simply the classroom.
Wilson comes into each period with his full enthusiasm, whether the students match his passion or not. However, being a math teacher was not at the helm of his plans until late in his college career.
“I did not plan on having a math career until I fell in love with my math classes,” Wilson said. “I tutored math a lot in high school and college because I have always had a knack for math and teaching.”
Realizing the overlap between his interests and his talents, he realized that being a math teacher made sense for him. He comes to work every day with a positive attitude, knowing that despite the fact there will always be difficulties throughout the day, powering through them is the important part.
“Not every day is going to be fun and easy, but you have to push through to get to the good times,” Wilson said. “Sometimes you have to convince people to learn. People get into the job thinking everyone is eager to learn, but that is not how it is.”
In fact, students who are not eager to learn are a common occurrence in almost every classroom, which leads to problems for many teachers. Especially after the learning loss stemming from COVID’s virtual schooling era, this issue has been exacerbated.
While he is known among his students in the classroom mostly for his friendly demeanor and teaching antics, he also has a strong bond with his family and a love for exercise.
“I would like to consider myself a family man. I enjoy visiting my mom once a week and love hanging out with family,” Wilson said. “I enjoy working out, running, watching sports and watching movies.”
One of the things that make Wilson such an effective and memorable math teacher is his speech patterns. Students who have had him can generally agree that the way he says things can enhance memory for when they are taking tests. Some of his favorite phrases include “Oh, shoot!” and “Technically…” which may not seem notable but when they surround important information, Wilson’s students report elevated memory of the material.
While a lot of teaching is about patience, overcoming obstacles, and following the rules of the school and county, Wilson still emphasizes the love he has for his job.
“It warms my heart when students say they want to minor or major in statistics that were in my class,” Wilson said. “My favorite part of teaching is how you can see the progress firsthand.”
