Tempestt Taylor

Sloan Awards for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics • 2018

Title and Organization Algebra, Integrated Algebra, Algebra II/Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Geometry, High School of American Studies at Lehman College

Bio

Ms. Taylor’s courses are among the school’s most popular and most challenging. She encourages students to embrace the struggles associated with mathematics because being a mathematician is inherently a difficult enterprise. According to Ms. Taylor, “The most beautiful part of my job is seeing everything click for my students. That moment is made even sweeter when students accept that they are going to struggle and make mistakes. But struggle is the way that we build strength.” A students says, “Her attitude is so friendly that I never feel like I am doing a project for a teacher. But then you hear her ‘drop some knowledge” about exponential functions and you remember just how brilliant she is.” Another notes, “She cultivates an interest in math for students who would never in a million years think that math would be a subject for them.”