This month’s teacher spotlight is Theresea Daniel! Theresea has been teaching for 25 years. All of those years have been dedicated to Viewmont Elementary in Murray School District grades 4-6. The last 13 years she has specialized in teaching 6th grade students, with a strong focus on math and science.
Theresea received an impressive nomination, her nominator wrote “Theresea teaches 6th grade math and coaches the Math Olympiad team for 4th-6th graders at the school. She is a fantastic math teacher and she has gone above and beyond to keep my high achieving daughter appropriately challenged. She is an incredible role model for students, parents, and other teachers. She demonstrates hard work and determination in everything that she does. She works hard to meet the needs of all of her students, at all levels. She builds their confidence in math and in themselves. She is a leader on her school's leadership team and I'm thankful for the time I got to work with her on that team in prior school years. Currently, I'm so grateful that she's been my daughter's coach for Math Olympiad and now her math teacher.”
Theresea views teaching as a lifestyle choice, and thrives in a classroom full of students. She loves when the hard work pays off with those “aha” moments. Theresea also works to develop positive relationships with her students which helps open their minds to a willingness to learn something they may view as “hard”. She makes sure her students hear her enthusiasm for math, and works to make it meaningful, fun, and relevant.
Theresea serves as an inspiration to us all in this this heartwarming experience she shared, “A few years ago (2014), I nearly lost my life to a devastating disease. I had to relearn to move, even walk. Much of my motivation to recover, way ahead of the doctors’ expectations was to get back to the classroom. I developed the class motto, “Be Strong!”. Each year I tie that into learning, both inside and outside of the classroom. I began to lift weights, so if I fell I could pick myself up. I started to jog, and run, and finally race half marathons. I’m now a powerlifter, too. March 7th, 2020 I placed 1st and 2nd in my divisions, and earned 3 state records. My students help me review data, set goals, celebrate PRs, and recognize failures, as a part of the growing process”.
We can’t thank Theresea enough for making a different in the lives of her students. Her passion and dedication are contagious, and on behalf of the Utah State Board of Education, we thank Theresea for her outstanding contributions to mathematics education.