Introducing the Math Department

Helping our students navigate through equations, calculations, and critical thinking are the talented faculty of our Math Department. The department’s goal is to help students develop the problem solving and critical thinking skills necessary to be successful in current and future STEM classes and in life.

 

The team is led by Monica Chan, the department’s chair, who has been teaching at Maranatha for 8 years, and loves cooking, sleeping, traveling, and watching Korean dramas. The department includes many other amazing teachers. Cheryl Dixon ‘80 is a Maranatha alum, and a faculty member for 9 years, who enjoys traveling. Also teaching for 9 years in our Math Department is another alum, Kimi Nahigian ‘08, who is a fan of line dancing. Beloved veteran teacher, Sandy Pelletier, has prepared our students for careers in mathematics and related fields for 30 years, and in her free time enjoys swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding, and biking. Michael Garcia is in his fourth year at Maranatha and likes to garden and make/can fruit jam. Ji Choo joined the team 3 years ago and enjoys playing softball. The newest member of the team, Joel Staggers, is enjoying his 2nd year with the department and can sometimes be found on the soccer field when he’s not in the classroom. 

 

With a self-proclaimed love for God, Math, and their students, these devoted teachers work hard to help their students improve their math skills and find interesting methods to keep students engaged. A few of the special projects they have planned for this year include: Celebrating Pi Day on March 14, 2022; Financial Algebra students will theoretically purchase a car with $45,000; Honors Math Analysis students will create their own math podcast; Geometry students have a project titled “Ames Room” (an optical illusion room); and Honors Multivariable Calculus students will do a mathematical exploration of microphones (including omnidirectional mics, cardioid mics, and hyper cardioid mics), and will write polar equations for each model to determine the percent of sound picked up in front of and behind the microphone, so they may compare the results and conclude how the microphones differ. 

 

Maranatha is blessed to have these talented, creative teachers educating and challenging our students.