The Bear River staff count is exponentially increasing and Ms. Perna is one of the newest additions.
Over the summer, Andrea Perna was hired as the new freshman and sophomore math teacher. She transferred over from Nevada Union High School for a fresh start, and Bear River was her answer. Ms. Perna was born and raised in Massachusetts. She attended Framingham State College, which is now Framingham University. Her education was originally focused on Home Economics, but Ms. Perna said she slowly discovered her passion for math.
Ms. Perna further explained on how her love of math came to be.
“I always loved school, I just took to it you know,” said Ms. Perna. “I loved it, and I had a lot of great teachers growing up, and it just seemed like a perfect fit. But I’ve always just loved math. I see the world in math, in shapes, relationships, the logic, the numbers, everything just fits.”
Freshman Marco Davis talked about how wonderful Ms. Perna is as a teacher and gave insight on how the classroom environment is.
“She’s a good teacher. I really like her, she’s super nice,” said Davis. “It’s a very happy environment. It’s really quiet. I like it because I can listen to the teacher and get work done.”
Sophomore Christopher Elias coincided with Davis’s opinion, and further specified on how well her teaching method is understood in the classroom.
“She’s really great!” said Elias. “She’s experienced and really covers the curriculum. I understand her. She explains more. I have had some trouble in the past, but with her, I get it. She puts more emphasis on what needs to be taught.”
Freshman Hailee Finn talked about how Ms. Perna’s class is her easy math class and how she’s comfortable with the fellow students that are enrolled in this class as well.
“I’m in other (advanced courses), so taking an easier math course with help me out more than having all hard classes,” explained Finn. “There’s no one in the class who makes it feel like they are out to get you.”
Being a new teacher is hard especially when everything is new. So having a good foundation is key to a successful first year. Ms. Perna explained why she came to Bear River and how new this chapter actually a really different experience for her.
“I’m a big fan of the book, it’s one of the reasons I came here,” elaborated Ms. Perna, “Teenagers are teenagers, so that’s where my world is. (Obviously) It’s a new school, new book, new schedule, new atmosphere, so in a way there’s a lot of new. More than I anticipated.”
Ms. Perna ended with how unprepared students are, and how she is up for the challenge to make a difference in the Bear River Math program.
“I thought students would be more used to the book and this approach, but what I’m finding is that students aren’t,” Ms. Perna. “So I might have, made a few missteps into thinking they were more ready to carry on with another year of it, when I’m finding that I better regroup and get used to the new book. I am all in and ready to learn the CMP and really want to be part of the let’s get on board mentality. Let’s make sure that we’re all on board (Our students and fellow teachers).”
