Adam Parker, also known as Mr. Parker, has been teaching for 19 years. This is his 12th year teaching at Hughson High. Parker has always loved wanting to help others, so he knew this would be a perfect job for him. His favorite part about teaching is navigating people through the toughness of math. Parker’s favorite lessons to teach are the concepts of probability and logic. He enjoys being a math teacher because he loves how gifted he is at doing math and because of the memories he gets to make with his students. If he was not a math teacher, he would have liked to be an actuary. He said that he had a full-ride scholarship for actuary, but he turned it down to do what he loved. Parker’s goals for his students by the end of the year are to help them in their rational and logical thinking. He says, “Whatever we do in life, we will have problems. However, the ability to solve those problems step by step is something we all need practice in.”

Parker’s way to adapt with students who have special needs is to understand their 504 or IEP needs. He wants to be able to help them in any way possible. Parker’s best way to handle discipline is to be consistent in his expectations, while also giving room for the idea that people have bad days and need extra grace sometimes. He handles conflicts between students by talking to them after class and figuring out the problem between the two. Parker also has multiple ways to help students who are struggling in class. He tries to communicate with them and, if needed, he gets more help. He also tries to ask their closest friends to see if they know why their friend is struggling. Parker handles stress between work and his personal life by shutting off that teaching part of his brain when he is with his family. His advice for people who would like to become a teacher is to always know that if you mess up, you’re not going to set up the kids for failure. Parker’s favorite memory at this school is when his students would write him notes on how he impacted their life.