David Perry

Back to All Education, Mathematics Spotlights

I am a math and technology teacher at Christ the King Elementary School in Rutland, VT. For mathematics, I teach the middle school (6th, 7th and 8th Grade). For the technology part of my job, I have a session with each class (Pre-K through 8) once a week. This gives me the opportunity to know all of the students in the school. Outside of school hours, I am a coach for the middle school basketball teams, a supervisor for CKS’s after-school program, and an instructor for CKS’s 5th grade Catechism program.

My academic path at Saint Michael’s College was not very common. I started as a Biology major and switched to mathematics by the end of my second semester. I then started taking computer science courses as though I was a major, and wound up being able to pull off formally adding that major during my senior year. Though I ultimately found more passion and interest in Math and CS, I would not take back my time as a Biology major. It was through that major that I had the privilege to meet a lot of great professors and acquire some fascinating knowledge. Having a little extra background in Bio also strengthened my candidacy for the Math REU held at SMC in the summers of 2016 and 2017. Each day spent at Saint Michael’s College offered me new experiences and perspectives that shaped me for the better and have made me the person I am today.

The mathematics and computer science departments, in particular, were crucial to me being where I am now. Their dedication to their work combined with their passion for sharing it with their students inspired me in how I went about my own work. I was thoroughly impressed by the attention to detail and preparation that they displayed in each of their lectures, and this drove me to be clear and thorough in my own work, regardless if it was a class presentation, written proof, or term paper. Their compassion and willingness to work with students outside of class motivated me to be a more patient and open-minded tutor and thinker, meeting the student where they are currently and guiding them to a more complete understanding. Mathematics, like any subject, can have a lot of overlap from class to class, and so I had the opportunity to see how various professors would explain the same concept. This, too, has resulted in a personal desire to see things from various points of view and have as complete an understanding of the material as possible, which has helped me a great deal with my own students. Every course taken and professor met at Saint Michael’s College has been immeasurably beneficial to me in my own life, both inside and outside of the classroom.