With a new year change has begun, goodbyes have been said to last years teachers, and a new hello has been circulating school wide for new fresh faced teachers. New math teacher Jared Kaiser takes on his first year of teaching at FC, but coached basketball and taught math for Parlier high school last year.
Kaiser grew up in Lake Forest, CA and attended El Torro high school. He later went on to play basketball for four years at Chapman University and majored in accounting.
Kaiser is not exactly a new name around FC, his wife, Jordana Siebert was the history teacher for two years, from 2011-2013. Jared admits to feeling strange about coming to a school his wife previously taught at.
“Honestly, I almost felt kind of weird coming here because I felt like it was her school, not mine,” Kaiser said. “And since she [Jordana] was invited to a lot of graduation parties I kept hearing that there were a job openings here so I took interest because it was much closer to home.”
Kaiser finds FC parents to be much more involved in both the school as a whole and in their children’s academics.
“I’m getting emails from students and parents almost daily, whether they’re sick, going to miss a day, just anything; and that never happened at Parlier,” Kaiser said “It is a completely different culture here, the kids are more involved in the learning process. Parlier was a great place to go and it taught me a lot about classroom management and how to handle a classroom, but here at FC the kids are very different just because of the culture they’ve grown up in.”
With a whole math department and multiple teachers, teaching the same class, Kaiser felt able to rely on them for any questions about the curriculum. Kaiser is very grateful to Director of academics, Michael Fenton for creating an outstanding mathematics curriculum.
“I stress out everyday because at Parlier you could rely on an entire department of math teachers,” Kaiser said. ” I had two other geometry teachers and three other algebra teachers to work with. He [Fenton] Has been the biggest blessing, and Mr. Lee has kept almost every single day of notes and homework for me to refer back to. The most challenging thing is to find a way to take all that and make it my own, at the end of the day if the kids get it then great, but if they don’t then we have a problem that needs fixing.”
Every job has it’s difficulties, and Kaiser says that he finds the hardest part about being a teacher to be the constant preparation and creativity needed to keep students interested and invested in their work.
“The hardest part about being a teacher is always having to be prepared, because there are so many kids that are relying on you to be prepared and present everyday,” Kaiser said. “It’s up to me to find what the best way for my students to learn is.”
Senior Brooke Wood enjoys Kaiser’s class for the atmosphere he provides to the classroom.
“I have Mr. Kaiser for Algebra two and I really like him as a teacher,” Wood said. “He takes the time to explain things really well and makes sure we all know what we are doing.”
Amber Wilson, sophomore, has taken a great liking to Kaiser’s hands on approach to his teaching curriculum.
“I like Mr. Kaiser as a teacher because his teaching style is very hands on and its helpful to do a problem on the board in front of the class with him helping out,” Wilson said. “Last year I had Mr. Lee and I miss him and I don’t think I know Mr. Kaiser well enough to know which one I prefer.”
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For more features, read the Aug. 28 article Devices promote class efficiency, productivity.
