It was the first day of school, and when students walked into room 306, the new math teacher greeted them warmly.
Ellena Santoro’s classroom included little essence that made her character. She has funny meme pictures, a “fridge” board, and positive quotes around the home. The “fridge” part of the classroom is a blank bulletin board where students are encouraged to pin up the grades they are proud of. “The quotes around the room are there for students to stay positive,” exclaims Santoro.
Santoro looks forward to helping students reach their full potential this year. As all good teachers do, she has created a very intentional teaching style to engage her students best. “I prefer when students lead the discussions and answer each other’s questions,” Santoro says. She also hopes that her students realize that math is not as scary as it seems. “I want students to actually enjoy the class, and realize math isn’t so scary,” says Santoro.
In general, it is shown that many high school students see math as a struggle, but understand it is a beneficial class. According to EDW, “Almost three-quarters of high school students think that they can be good at math if they work hard, but fewer say they follow through with that effort when the work gets challenging, according to a new national survey.”
Junior Montana Brush has been receptive to this teaching style. “We are still so early into the year, but I’ve been enjoying Mrs Santoro’s teaching style,” says Brush. She likes that Santoro provides her students with plenty of practice before quizzes. These practices include class discussions with around-the-room collaborative work, Quizizz, Delta Math practices, and plenty of review worksheets.
Brush also compliments the way Santoro has patience in the class “even when the classroom is full of students with questions.”
Others may not know, but Santoro is also a mom. Her daughter just turned two years old, and she explains how she balances being a teacher and a parent. “As a parent and teacher, I’ve learned to pivot. You never know where life is going to take you and you need to be ready to change with it or take on whatever life throws at you,” says Santoro.
Before coming to KHS, Santoro had a rough time at her previous school. She explains how her daughter got sick last September, and how she dealt with it. This sickness included “106° fevers, tubes in her ears for ear infections, and in and out hospital visits for the rest of the year.” This caused Santoro to take a break from teaching for the remainder of the year.
Throughout high school Santoro was quiet. She wanted to focus her energy on what mattered the most to her, and that was her next step after high school. After high school, she left herself with advice, “Whatever is meant for you will be, and whatever isn’t won’t.”
