New Seven Hills math teacher expresses his passion for teaching and ties.

“I’ve always enjoyed teaching, and I realize everything I have done in my life always involved math,” Mr. English said in an interview on September 7.

Mr. English is a new mathematics teacher in the Seven Hills Middle School. He currently teaches Algebra and Geometry.

He has been a classroom teacher for 6 years and has previously taught Pre-Algebra. Mr. English taught at Immaculate Heart of Mary for 5 years and McNicholas High School for 3 months as a substitute. “Technically I’ve been a teacher for most of my life in some way, shape, or form,” English said.

Before teaching he was an Optical Engineer for 22 years. An Optical Engineer is someone who uses light in engineering. 

English moved from Tracy, California, to Cincinnati in the spring of 2000. He was born in Virginia and lived in many places like Wisconsin and along the East Coast. He was hired for an optical engineering position here in Cincinnati the same day Ken Griffey Jr. signed with the Reds.

Later in his career, he saw an opening as a substitute teacher at McNicholas High School. Although he didn’t like substitute teaching, he thought it gave him “a great opportunity” to plan lessons and interact with students. 

Mr. English found his career at Seven Hills through LinkedIn. “I don’t wanna say luck, ’cause that’s not really what it is. I’m part of LinkedIn, which is a networking thing for a reason. So things like this happen,” Mr. English said.

Mr. English had mentioned how he loves the middle school community.

“The Seven Hills community is incredibly welcoming,” English said. He likes to bounce his ideas off of other math teachers as well, which he couldn’t do much at his old school because there weren’t many other math teachers.

He spoke about his ways of teaching and how he is learning lots of new things at Seven Hills. “Math is a subject where I think you learn best if you can kinda do a little bit each day,” he said. Mr. English believes it’s okay to make mistakes, but early on in the process so that you can fix them and get the rest of the problem right. 

Mr. English said that he is also still learning about the school iPads, adjusting to 80-minute blocks, and getting to know the teachers and students at Seven Hills. “As a new teacher here…[I work on] how can I get to being an experienced teacher quickly. So I’m going to try a bunch of things,” Mr. English said. He asks students for feedback, and he likes to try new teaching styles.

Mr. English is a very religious man. He made his final decision to be a teacher on January 28, 2017 during a church service. “God said to me, ‘I’ve given you all you need. Now serve me,’’ Mr. English said. 

In the evenings after school, Mr. English grades papers, makes plans for the next day, watches TV, or sometimes goes out for dinner with his wife, Marge. 

Mr. English has many hobbies. On the weekends he enjoys reffing soccer games, playing golf, reading, watching Law & Order, or watching his bird feeder. 

Mr. English also takes pride in his unique teacher ties. It became part of his attire after a friend of his gave him fun ties to wear during the school day. He has superhero ties, math/school ties, a Purdue tie, as well as many others. It’s his thing. 

Mr. English likes to figure out how students learn best. He often reflects on how different things work in the classroom. 

“Every year I’m a different teacher. One of the good things about me… is that I hardly ever do the same thing the same way twice,” Mr. English said. He’s always willing to try new tricks for teaching. “I’m always reinventing and tinkering.”

By: Anika Kakar, Avery Clayton, and Campbell Coyne