Simone Swain

This year the school has welcomed many new teachers on campus, among them is Simone Swain, the newest geometry teacher. Wingspan sat down with Swain to find more about her journey on campus and how her past few weeks have been here. 

Wingspan: Where are you from originally?

Swain: “I’m originally from California, small town called Campo.”

Wingspan: What college did you go to? For how long?

Swain: “I went to Wayland Baptist University for four years.”

Wingspan: When did you find your passion in math?

Swain: “I’ve always loved math since I was a little kid, so I always knew I wanted to do something in math. Just because I love the problem solving, I love the challenge.”

Wingspan: Why do you like teaching?

Swain: “I love interacting with students. I love just like the process of teaching, and, watching people learn because I love learning, kind of why I fell in love with teaching and I love showing students you can do it.” 

Wingspan: How long have you been teaching for?

Swain: “I student taught for half the semester and this is actually my first school year of teaching”

Wingspan: What is the most difficult thing about teaching?

Swain: “Balancing everything because every student has different needs, so balancing like one student may need something different from this student, showing them in multiple ways. Just the whole planning process and then coming into class. Being flexible and adjusting.”

Wingspan: What made you want to teach on campus?

Swain: “The team here, when I interviewed here, I fell in love with the math department, the people, and the teachers that I met. So it made it an easy choice.”

Wingspan: How has your first few weeks been here?

Swain: “They’ve been hard, just getting used to teaching, it’s difficult because it’s a lot of work but a lot of fun and I enjoyed  getting to know the students and the people I work with. It’s been great and I love it. It’s been a smooth transition because everybody here is fantastic.”

Wingspan: What goals do you personally want your students to achieve in your class? 

Swain: “I think my main goal for my students is, yeah I want them to do well and get good grades but mostly to appreciate math, I want them to leave without hating it.”

Wingspan: What do you do in your free time?

Swain: “I play a lot of beach volleyball. So, I go to sand courts all the time. I like doing active things working out, playing sports, and hanging out with people. All the fun stuff, game nights, a lot of board game nights.”