From Engineer To Math Teacher 

Ben Joslin joined Proctor High School as a new math teacher this fall. 

Previously, he went to UVM for the Arts and Sciences. “My professor told me I should try Engineering,” Joslin says, so he did. He tried Electric and Mechanical Engineering, but eventually gravitated toward Civil Engineering.

Joslin initially worked as an engineer. However, he always considered education as a possible career path and finally decided to further consider the career when his boss at an earlier engineering job commented on his math skills and encouraged him to go into education. “I was told that math was my strong suit. I studied math as an engineer and was told I fit better with math,” Mr Joslin said. 

Joslin’s mom, a former substitute teacher, encouraged him to try substituting. He then pursued his career as a teacher beginning in December 2022 after substituting at Lamoille Union High School, “I was substituting and I made the decision to switch and pursue the career.” 

There were a number of math positions that Joslin applied for, but Proctor was most appealing.  “I was won over when Ms. Mclemore gave me an answer that was better than most principals. She showed a lot of insight and wisdom. I asked her how she measures if a teacher is good or not.” He says she responded with, “Are the students working? And do you have a good relationship with the students?”  Mr. Joslin knew he wanted to work at Proctor after that response. 

He looks forward to this school year as he wants to finish his portfolio, and get his teaching license. He is also thrilled to learn new skills, noting he will be “branching through the flavors of math, becoming more experienced.” 

“The hardships are getting to know Proctor,” he says, mentioning it’s a “happy challenge.” However, he says it can be stressful processing everything he needs to know. 

He offers some advice for other new teachers, “You're probably gonna work over the summer and you’ll probably spend a lot of hours after school since you have a lot more things to learn.” He also offers encouragement, “it can be easy to feel like you aren’t doing enough; give yourself credit.” 

As a teacher, Joslin wants to uplift students as well, “There's no such thing as a bad mistake because it’s an opportunity to learn."