Everyone is given brand new opportunities all the time. Adults receive a new job position, and students transition into a new school year. At Fraser High School, the 2015-16 school year welcomes a batch of new teachers from different fields of education. For our math department, Ms. Brittany Blaska is a new face not only at the high school but at the middle school as well.

  She was one of those lucky people who had always known what they were going to be when they grew up.

“I enjoyed math and loved school, so what could be better than becoming a math teacher? I feel that this is one of the most rewarding career paths that someone can choose,” Ms. Blaska said.

  Before teaching at Fraser, she taught at Boulan Park Middle School in the Troy School District. In the past, she has taught 7th grade math, ⅞ Honors Math, and Math Lab for 7th and 8th grade. Currently, with her teaching morning classes at the high school and afternoon classes at the middle school, she teaches: Algebra 2, 7th Grade Connected Math, TI Connecting Math F, and TI Essentials for Algebra. High school and middle school? That must be hectic, right?

“I do enjoy being at both. I am noticing some big differences between the two, but I feel that a benefit of being placed at both schools is that you get to teach a wide range of students and make more of an impact,” Ms. Blaska said.

  Well, it looks like teaching at two schools won’t be that hard for this teacher, especially since they are right next to each other.

  Every teacher has their own unique way of teaching their classes and have their own ideas on how they would like the process to be done. For this teacher, Fraser was perfect for what she had in mind.

“Fraser is a great district with ideas and goals that matched my teaching philosophy,” Ms. Blaska said, “They are moving in this new direction of teaching, and I was very eager to be a part of a district that is doing whatever they can to help the students reach their full potential.”

  So far, she has enjoyed the experience and expects it to be even better throughout the rest of the school year. Having been excited to be part of the Fraser District, her math classes at Fraser High School gets her involved with what Competency Based Learning is. While students either groan or rejoice over having CBL classes, teachers encounter the same emotions.

“I feel that teaching CBL classes is a great way to prepare students for their future, no matter what direction they go. In the class, we are learning new critical thinking and problem solving strategies that can relate to different aspects of life.” Ms. Blaska said on her thoughts on CBL classes, “I feel that it is important to form good habits of persevering through a challenging task and being able to explain your thinking to others, and the CBL classes are creating opportunities for students to practice these habits.”

  At Fraser, iPads are distributed to students to help them to help them learn. On the use of technology.

  “I think that iPads are a great tool for both the students and the teachers,” Ms Blaska said, “My favorite aspect of the iPads is that the students and teachers both have 24 hour access to the tools we use in our class.”

  Outside of teaching students, she spends her time watching and playing sports, with friends and family as well as inevitable, grading math papers. Even though she cannot picture herself being anything other than a math teacher, there is more to Ms. Blaska.

“My goal in life is to make a positive impact to the world, and I feel that starts with teaching and helping our future generations reach their full potential and accomplish their dreams,” Ms. Blaska said.

  What a lovely reason for teaching! Ms. Brittany Blaska is a passionate math teacher who doesn’t teach just because she enjoyed learning it when she was a student, it is also to change the world for the better.