A math teacher at Oliver Ames High School in North Easton, Massachusetts was recently named The Teacher of the Year for The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon Massachusetts STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
Kerri Murphy previously worked as an industrial engineer and software programmer before becoming a high school math teacher. She teaches grades 9-12 in the subjects of statistics, algebra and geometry. Her real-world experience from her time as an engineer and programmer is brought into the classroom.
Murphy also believes that mistakes are important. “I emphasize that the class, as a group, should embrace mistakes as learning opportunities,” she said. She implements both group and individual work in the classroom and encourages creative thinking when solving problems.
Murphy has been teaching for five years at Oliver Ames High School and a total of fifteen in the Massachusetts school system. She was also nominated for Teacher of the Year in the Abington Public Schools in 2010.
In addition to her teaching, Murphy also serves as co-chair of the Easton STEAM Education Team and co-advisor for the Oliver Ames math team. Her role as co-advisor for the math team allows her to work with high school students that help elementary school students with math.
Her students go to the neighboring elementary school twice a week during winter and work with grades 3-5 on honing their math skills and preparing for more complex problems during middle school.
Murphy will attend the 2015 Massachusetts STEM Summit at Worcester’s DCU Center in November and her school will be awarded $5,000 towards STEM education.
Bryan Morry, The Hall Executive Director says Murphy has an excellent teaching reputation of bringing math to life with her humor and energy.
Murphy is hoping that the award money given to the school can be used to create additional STEM related classes such as software programming and engineering.