Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Maxon.
Michael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
By my second year in college, I knew I wanted to teach. I earned my B.A. in mathematics and teaching credential at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and began my career as a junior high school mathematics teacher in Orcutt, California.
While at Orcutt Junior High School, I enjoyed teaching math, starting and coaching a chess team as well as coaching the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams. After three years of teaching, I decided that I wanted to learn more about the topic I teach and the art and science of teaching mathematics. I became a full-time student again and earned a Masters in Mathematics and then entered a Ph.D. program in Mathematics Education. My work toward a Ph.D. in mathematics education was an eye-opening experience for me.
I learned how other countries such as Singapore and Japan teach mathematics through problem-solving and with a greater focus on conceptual development. After completing a year of coursework towards my Phd., I took a position at the Professional Development Collaborative with the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education at San Diego State University. This was an incredible experience. I was privileged to plan and implement long-term professional development programs for math teachers with amazing colleagues. I also got to attend and speak at mathematics education conferences on a regular basis.
For the last ten years, I have been a mathematics educator at Santa Fe Christian School (SFCS) in Solana Beach, a K-12 grade school with about 1000 students. The school leadership understands and supports an inquiry approach to teaching mathematics through problem-solving. I teach advanced-level classes such as Linear Algebra, AP Calculus and Advanced Math Theory and Proof, and I also get to work with the middle and elementary school students. I teach an elective called Math Problem Solving for Middle School in which the students learn Combinatorics. I developed and run three different math clubs: high school, middle school and upper elementary school as well as coach the SFCS Math Team.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
As the number of students interested in mathematics clubs, contests, and advanced level math classes has increased, so has the level of math achievement. In 2015, just five years after our first time competing in an American Mathematics Competition (AMC 12), 20 students earned a higher score on the 2015 AMC 12 than SFCS’s best student score from the 2010 AMC 12. Our rankings in state and national math contests are much higher than when we began. Out of the approximately 180 schools who compete in the California Math League contest, Santa Fe Christian Schools is currently ranked #20 in the state and #4 in San Diego County. I was given a pleasant surprise in 2016.
In recognition of the growth and achievements of the SFCS Math Team, the Mathematics Association of American honored me with the Edith May Sliffe Award for Distinguished Mathematics Teaching. More important to me than the high numbers of students who now participate or the SFCS math team’s state and national rankings, is the difference these experiences have made for our students once they are in college and beyond. Just a few weeks ago I was in Boston and met up with three students who were on past SFCS math teams. Two of the students shared with me that their experiences in the Advanced Math Class as well as being on the math team prepared them well for the challenges of being in a STEM major at MIT.
I have heard similar stories from many other past math team students who are now at Caltech, Stanford, Princeton and UC Berkeley as well as other universities known for the rigor of their academic programs. One of my graduates who is currently a junior in college as an applied math major recently published her first journal article in a peer-reviewed journal. Below is a paragraph from a letter written by one of my past students. She struggled at first with the level of difficulty of the problems she was being asked to solve in the Advanced Math class. She is now a junior at Princeton and doing very well.
You have been such an influential role model in my life and I am so grateful for your presence and guidance as my teacher over the past two years. Thank you for your relentless desire to help me succeed in mathematics and for most importantly, pushing me to grow beyond my limits and teaching me to grow beyond my limits and teaching me how to cope with change and unfamiliar learning areas. I feel like I have a leg up on everyone else just because I now know how to learn and get help when I don’t understand something, primarily thanks to Advanced Math!
Contact Info:
- Address: 838 Academy Drive Solana Beach, CA 92075
- Website: www.sfcs.net
- Phone: 858.755.8900 858.755.2480
- Email: info@sfcs.net
- Instagram: @sfcseagles
- Facebook: @sfcseagles
- Twitter: @sfcseagles
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