This school year McCallum hired a new math teacher, Jada Stewart, to teach Algebra 1 and 2. Stewart is a recent University of Texas graduate, having only graduated in May of this year, and is currently in her first year of being a teacher. 

Stewart took over the position of past teacher Paul Pew who taught at McCallum for 17 years. She got to sit in on Pew’s last day of lessons to observe his teaching style. 

“It was really obvious by the way he interacted with students how much they loved him and felt comfortable in his room,” Stewart said. 

Stewart hopes to live up to this legacy and create a similar environment for her students.

Stewart was a student teacher at McCallum last year for fellow math teacher Carly Kehn. She contributed to Kehn’s classes, Algebra 1 and 2, twice a week by lesson planning, leading the classes and observing other classes in order to get experience and learn different strategies. She also contributed to grading and scheduling in order to gain practice as a teacher.

Kehn believes McCallum is a great place to start for a new teacher because of its welcoming nature.

 “It was very apparent when she was a student teacher that this was a job she’d be really good at and that she really enjoys,” Kehn said. “I think she fits the McCallum community really well, so it’s exciting to be able to bring her on board cause there’s not always a lot of positions open. It’s really cool to work with her; I saw her as a peer then, so it’s fun to have her as a coworker.”

Growing, up Stewart loved math and explaining it to her peers.

“I love teaching people and seeing the moment when something clicks for them, that lightbulb moment,” Stewart said.

She became a tutor at Mathnasium in high school and started to realize her love for explaining math could go further, eventually leading her to explore a career in mathematics, starting as a student teacher. 

Stewart is grateful to be teaching at McCallum because of her exposure to the McCallum culture and environment from when she student taught. 

“Being a student teacher was the first real experience where I got to be in a classroom for an extended period of time, so it was nice to get to know my students and get experience in classroom management,” Stewart said. 

A student from one of Stewart’s classes last year, sophomore Riley Richey, said that Stewart was a very helpful teacher and was very good at her job.

 “She always was in a really good mood and happy to be there,” Richey said. 

Richey is excited Stewart has stayed at McCallum for her full-time teaching career and hopes to have her in future years.

“Her attitude was contagious,” Richey said. “She always had fun things for us to do at the start of class to bring up the energy. I really enjoyed being taught by her.”