Correlating mathematical success

TCCHS’ Hanna delights in helping students learn math

By Sydney Ferrel, student reporter

jacketnews@tcjackets.net 

THOMASVILLE – As a math teacher for six years, Kelsey Hanna loves helping students cultivate their appreciation for the subject. 

“I love when students have the ‘aha’ moment when they are learning,” she said. “I enjoy helping students to develop their love of mathematics, and I hope to be able to continue to work with students and to help them grow a passion for mathematics.”

This is Hanna’s first year at Thomas County Central High School. She graduated from Collins Hill High School in Gwinnett County and previously taught at Islands High School in Savannah.

“My husband, who grew up here, and I moved back to Thomasville to be closer to family,” she said. “When applying to TCCHS, I saw what amazing programs the district has, and so I was excited to get a job there.” 

Advanced Placement Statistics student Whit Hayes, 17, enjoys having Hanna as his teacher. 

“I think Mrs. Hanna is a great teacher,” he said. “She is enthusiastic and helps us whenever we need it. She wants us to learn and do well, and she is just a great person in general.”

Hanna has always had a love for math.

“Calculations and problem-solving have always been something that I find enjoyable,” she said.

While studying at Georgia College & State University, she took courses in business math, pure math and math education. Then she knew teaching was for her. 

“While studying for my Bachelor of Science in mathematics, I had a teaching concentration where I focused on how to teach mathematics in a classroom,” she said. “I have always loved mathematics and working with students. My experiences with my teaching concentration led me to the decision to get a master’s in education.” 

Hanna holds a Master of Arts in teaching (math) in secondary education. She teaches algebra, statistical reasoning and AP Statistics. Her favorite math to instruct is statistics. 

“I love teaching statistics because it is applicable to real-world situations, and I enjoy being able to use real-life problems to teach the course,” she said. “By the way, did you know that ‘MythBusters’ is statistically incorrect in its conclusion that yawning is contagious? My AP Stat class did the math!”

One of the many fun attributes of Hanna’s teaching style is experiments and hands-on activities.

“I love doing experiments and hands-on activities when I can,” she said. “It is not uncommon to walk into my statistics classes and see students working on an experiment.”

Examples of these done this year include Barbie Bungee, pull-back cars, putt-putt, dissection of chocolate chip cookies to see how many chips are in each brand, and Hershey’s Kisses toss to determine how often they land upon their base.

“I enjoy being able to have students participate in experiments and simulations for data collection,” she said. “Having a data set given to you and being told to graph is one thing, but being able to collect data through using pull-back cars is another. I think doing these hands-on activities make the class more engaging and fun.”

Her students agree. AP Statistics pupil Bryce Barwick, who believes Hanna is a great teacher for a hard subject, found Barbie Bungee most enjoyable. In this experiment, students used rubber bands to create a bungee cord and recorded how far a Barbie doll traveled per rubber band added each jump to determine a least squares regression line. Then, they used the LSRL to predict how many bands it would take to have Barbie plunge to the gym floor but not hit it.

“Barbie Bungee was my favorite project because we got to work both inside and outside of the classroom,” Barwick said. “We also got to work in teams, so it helped us work on teamwork. It taught us about statistics but in a fun way. It was one of the best projects I’ve ever done.”

Freshman Gracelynn Lima, 14, takes algebra with Hanna. 

“She is the most understanding and helpful teacher,” Lima said. “If you ever need help, she never fails to go over and above to help you. She always is trying to make class more interesting, and that is really nice. I used to struggle in math, and this was my best year yet in math because she has helped me so much. I am very grateful I have her for my math teacher this year!”

And Hanna’s students like taking an active role in feeding their teacher’s passion for math too.

“One of our fellow students did a number riddle, and he would put a number on the board every day, and we had to figure out what the numbers meant,” Hayes said. “Finally, one day, Mrs. Hanna figured it out, and it was so cool. That was a great day.”

Outside the classroom, Hanna enjoys gardening.

“I think the process of plant propagation is fascinating,” she said. “I really enjoy caring for plants.”

Hanna’s husband, William, works at Thomas County Middle School as a computer science teacher. His background is engineering and robotics classes and working with LEGO league.

“Battle Bots” is Hanna’s favorite show to watch because of the complexity that goes into building the robots and how none of them are the same. 

“What’s not to love about robots fighting,” she said. “It is interesting to see how different builders design and program their robot to deal with different opponents. Some builders chose to use a vertical spinner for their weapon while others may choose to use a flipper or saw. I was able to see some of these robots in person last year at Robot Ruckus, and it was fascinating to see the amount of engineering and mechanics that went into it.”

And as her first year of being a TCCHS Yellow Jacket nears a close, Hanna’s appreciation for the school only strengthens.

“I love all the opportunities that students have at TCCHS to explore their interests,” she said. “And I love the school spirit here!”

AP Statistics Class Find Cool Ways to Learn Math                                                                                                                               {Islands High School 2018-2019 }

By: Hannah Long

AP Statistics teacher, Mrs. Hanna, utilizes a hands-on method of teaching that keeps her students engaged in and excited about the curriculum.  Mrs. Hanna said, "The way I teach this class is focused on the phrase, 'Explore first, formalize later.'  When students are really invested in the hands-on activities, they remember the overall concepts better.' 

One activity that really held their attention was the Barbie Bungee experiment, where they had to predict the correct number of rubber bands that would keep the Barbie doll from hitting the ground.  Another activity started when Mrs. Hanna grabbed her students' attention by ripping open a bag of Hershey Kisses.  Her class estimated the proportion of chocolates that landed on their desk.  At then end of the activity, Junior John Reinhart, was able to eat 25 Hershey Kisses, making for a very enjoyable day in AP Statistics.  

As a result of these fun lessons, some of her students have even changed their opinion about math, and are finding joy in the subject.  One student even said she would consider a career in STEM after being in this class.