PrepNow Tutor - Stephen H.
Stephen has recently returned to being a full time engineer, but was in classrooms teaching math, computers, and science from 1997 to 2017; he has also taught ACT and SAT prep. He has many degrees: a BS in mechanical engineering and math education from Brigham Young University; a master's degree in the art of teaching from Marygrove College; and a minor in chemistry from Saginaw Valley State University. Since graduating, he has worked extensively in classrooms. "Due to economic pressures and other factors, I decided it was time to use my engineering degree. I have worked in automation ever since."
Immediately after college Stephen worked for a summer programming in LabView while searching for teaching jobs. He spent the majority of his teaching career in Flint, Michigan. He has been a high school math teacher, a high school computer teacher, and a high school science teacher for over a decade. He also taught ACT and SAT classes.
Since the age of 14 Stephen knew that he would be a teacher someday. A busy father of five, Stephen says, "My proudest moment as a teacher was when I taught my own children during the summers." Every year during break his kids had "summer school." "I would teach them what they would need to know for the next year. There was some crying at the kitchen table when they learned algebra, but they all found math class to be easy and read above grade level. My best teaching happens at home!"
In the classroom, Stephen recounts his proudest moment in his educational career. Once, there was a girl in Stephen's chemistry class who would not speak to anyone, including the teacher, and Stephen resolved to help her. "I sat next to her many times during group work and tried to speak with her. The other students laughed at me and said, 'She doesn't speak to anyone."' But eventually Stephen found out what the problem was: she thought the other students were mean. Stephen's perseverance paid off and he found a way to help this student.
Stephen's main pillar when instructing is that every student should be happy. "From an academic standpoint, that means making good choices now that will pay off later," he says. "I think learning should be fun." One of the many ways Stephen makes learning palatable is to answer the question When are we ever going to use this? "I used to rollerblade when I was younger, jumping over trash cans to teach math students about parabolas!"
Stephen's accolades from his career are many: Spanish National Merit Finalist (Full tuition scholarship, National Merit); Eagle Scout Award (Outdoor and Life Skills Training, BSA); High Performer Award (Excellent Teaching, ITT Tech), Dean's List for the College of Engineering (high grades, Brigham Young University). He also held teaching certificates for math and chemistry.
Stephen's interests when in school included tennis, ballroom dancing, and racquetball.
"Raising five children has been my main hobby for 25 years," he says. Stephen loves to read and is learning German.
