Published in the Spring 2018 issue of Westwind Magazine
Twelve years ago, if someone had asked Matthew Engle about his career aspirations, becoming a teacher wouldn’t have made the list. “Teaching was the last thing I ever wanted to do as a career,” says Engle. More than a decade later, however, what was once the unlikeliest of professions has become one of his greatest successes. In December, Engle was awarded the 2017 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching.
Struggling with direction while a student at Walla Walla University, Engle decided to take a gap year and serve as a student missionary in Palau, where he taught a class of eighth-graders. Before long, he realized that teaching was right up his alley.
“I had a handful of kids who came to me at the end of the year and said they always hated math, and they connected with it after having me as a teacher,” Engle recalls. “That was probably the thing that inspired me to teach math specifically.” By the time he left Palau, his perspective had changed. He returned to college with an unexpected plan in place.
After graduation in 2010, Engle found work teaching in China then in Montana. He now teaches math at Monterey Bay Academy in Watsonville, California. At the start of the 2017–18 school year, Engle spent long hours outside of class applying for the Rosenthal Prize.
The Rosenthal Prize, sponsored by the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City, recognizes fourth- through 12th-grade math teachers who aim to reinvent the classroom and promote hands-on learning. Applicants write a series of essays. Those who advance to the final round must design and submit a classroom activity that creatively demonstrates an important mathematical concept.
Engle’s winning 22-page submission, titled “Bringing Similarity into Light: Experiencing Similarity and Dilations Using Shadows,” explores geometric concepts surrounding similar figures and equal ratios. The lesson plan extends beyond math, guiding students into a deeper discussion about collaboration and appreciating others. “Everyone’s perceptions together are closer to the truth than our individual perception alone,” his submission reads. “We need to strive to understand each other’s viewpoints so we can grow together in our communities and the world.”
“A lot of math classes are boring really, and old and irrelevant,” he says. “I believe learning must be at the core of education, but many classrooms are focused on answer-getting instead.” Engle values intuition over memorization, and he uses math to help students develop reasoning skills and think critically about the world around them. “Education is for using information, not just having it.”
Engle received a $25,000 cash award with the Rosenthal Prize, and his lesson plan will be made available to teachers across the country. He accepted the award at a ceremony in New York City in February.