Working alongside his wife Michaela Wright, Sion welcomed its newest addition to the Math Department, Ben Wright for the new semester. With Michaela starting at Sion this past semester, Ben is collaborating with her on her Algebra II and Honors Geometry classes this semester.
Outside of the classroom Ben is pursuing a master’s degree at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Hebrew and Greek. Before arriving at Sion, he worked in construction as a trim carpenter installing doors, windows, baseboard, and trim.
“Currently, my wife works here and she really enjoys it,” Ben said. “The opportunity arose for me to come on staff, and my class schedule didn’t conflict heavily with the teaching schedule, so here I am.”
After working her first semester, Michaela was so excited to welcome Ben to Sion this semester because she wanted him to be able to experience some of the fun events at Sion with her.
“Before he was teaching here, I got to tell him about my day and the different things that happened either in class or activities like Storm Stomp,” Michaela said. “But now he will get to experience those with me which is really sweet.”
With such a new environment, Michaela helped Ben get acclimated to the new environment by working together on their lesson plans and discussing content for future classes.
“We normally take time on the drive to and from school to talk about what we are teaching the following day,” Ben said. “Since she taught last year at a different school she has a much better idea of pacing and scheduling than I do being a first year teacher, so it is helpful to talk through our teaching schedule together.”
According to Michaela, the biggest transition from last semester to this semester is communicating more on content, scheduling, and grading systems, because they are teaching the same classes at the same pace.
“Last semester, obviously, I didn’t have to communicate with him about how I did any of that, but we’ve wanted this transition, both for ourselves and you guys, to be as seamless as possible.” Michaela said. “Since a lot of the content for both Algebra II and Geometry Honors is created already, our discussions are more so centered around how we need to facilitate teaching the material and what will help you guys learn it the best as far as different in-class activities, homework, or interactive knowledge checks.”
Though it is only the beginning of the semester, the Wrights are optimistic and excited to work together for the rest of the year.
“I know there are some couples that would prefer not to work together,” Michaela said. “But it’s been really fun for us getting to share this part of our lives together.”
