My 9th grade and 10th grade math teacher, Mr. Kristopher Gilles, has been one of the best math teachers I have ever had! Mr. Gilles has made me love math. All throughout middle school I hated math because all my teachers would talk down to me. When I walked into Mr. Gilles room my freshman year, I just knew he was going to be an awesome teacher.
Mr. Gilles is involved with American mathematics competition (AMC) as an in-school activity. In his personal time he is a coach for a baseball little league team. When he was in high school he noted, “I was a nerd who worked hard every day”. He graduated 4th in his class in 1991.
Mr. Gilles has taught high school for 10 years, and has been at Green Valley High School since 2008. He told me what influenced him the most was his high school math teacher and most importantly his wife. He said his style of teaching is, “direct instruction with individualized attention to each students’ needs.” Students and teachers say Mr. Gilles has the biggest heart. Mr. Gilles said the only thing he would like to change in his teaching curriculum is trying to incorporate real world problems into his all of his math classes.
Mr. Gilles has not received any awards although he says his biggest accomplishment is hiking 1,100 miles of the Appalachian Mountains in 1996. He remarked, “It was the greatest time of his life besides having two sons, Leaf and Jamison.” This is why I nominate him as Educator of the Year.