Herald-Standard Excellent Educator: Teresa Stepanik Brown, Frazier
Eric Morris | Herald-Standard
Teresa Brown, seventh-grade math teacher at Frazier Middle School, teaches a lesson in her classroom Monday morning.
Eric Morris | Herald-Standard
Logan Butcher, a seventh-grade student Frazier Middle School, follows along on his Chromebook with math teacher Teresa Brown’s lesson.
Teresa Stepanik Brown, seventh-grade math teacher at Frazier Middle School, was chosen by officials at Frazier as the district’s Herald-Standard Excellent Educator for 2017.
Eric Morris | Herald-Standard
Frazier Middle School math teacher Teresa Brown assists seventh-grader Tiffany Sundstrom during a lesson in her classroom Monday.
Eric Morris | Herald-Standard
Frazier Middle School seventh-grade teacher Teresa Brown asks students for a show of hands during a lesson in her math classroom Monday. Brown was chosen as the district’s Herald-Standard Excellent Educator.
Editor’s note: The following is part of a monthly series highlighting educators from the Herald-Standard coverage area who have been chosen by officials in their school districts based on their work and dedication to the area of education.
No two days in Teresa Stepanik Brown’s seventh-grade math classroom are the same. That’s something she makes sure of.
In a 60-minute class, the Frazier Middle School teacher takes her students through as many as six different activities to keep them engaged in a subject of which she understands the struggles.
“The teachers that worked best with me were the ones who knew what it was like to have a hard time in math. I think that’s part of why I like it so much and why I’m here, because I can relate to (the students),” Brown said.
The Uniontown Area grad admits she wasn’t the best math student while in school. It took teachers who were willing to put in extra time to help her understand the material. That’s what she tries to do now for her own students.
“I think the biggest thing with my philosophy of teaching … is helping my students … believe in themselves in mathematics, because I was not good at math in middle school. It didn’t make sense to me,” said Brown.
“So when my students are struggling, I can look at them and say, ‘I get it. Sometimes it’s hard, and we’re going to work through it until we can make sense of it.'”
For her commitment to education and enriching the lives of students, Brown was chosen by officials at Frazier as the district’s Herald-Standard Excellent Educator for 2017.
Throughout the school year, Brown’s seventh-graders touch on several disciplines, including numbers and operations, algebra, proportional reasoning, geometry, and probability and statistics. Making these topics relevant and meaningful to her students starts with a productive discourse, she said.
“In my room we talk a lot. We might have one problem and we’ll talk about it for five minutes, and it’s really discussing and justifying and digging into the ‘whys?’ of math.
“That deep understanding is what allows you to connect it to your life and see how it’s relevant.”
Brown is in her fifth year as a teacher, but her teaching roots run deeper than her short career. She remembers back to helping in the pre-school classroom as a middle schooler. In high school, she taught Bible school and performed children’s sermons at her church.
“It just kind of kept growing and growing. It’s something that I’ve always known that I wanted to do,” said Brown. “I’ve dabbled in other things that interested me, but teaching has always been where my heart was.”
Brown graduated from California University of Pennsylvania in 2013 at the beginnings of the Pennsylvania 4-8 grade teaching certification program. Part of one of the first classes through the newly created program, Brown describes it as a perfect fit because she had always wanted to teach that age group.
“In that moment everything just fell into place,” she said. It’s just something about that age that draws her in.
“They’re so full of personality and spunk, and yet they’re trying so hard to be grown ups and they’re looking for guidance. What I want to do is help them find themselves, because I remember being lost at that age and I had some fantastic role models.”
As someone who struggled in math at times while in school and was able to overcome her shortfalls through the aid of caring instructors, Brown finds it gratifying when she can help her students push through and surpass their own expectations.
“I love whenever I think something is going to be difficult for them and they get it (instantly) because they get the underlying math,” Brown said. “But probably the biggest thing is seeing my kids smile and knowing it’s because they’re learning.”