LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Kenneth Nwocha was self-nominated. 

"I am nominating myself for the LifeChanger award for various reasons," explains Nwocha. "One, I devote a lot of time planning for students learning every day. I report to school at about 6:20 am every morning, which gives me the opportunity to make my lessons interactive and relevant to students' lives, apart from meeting the rigors in the curriculum. Research shows that when learning and teaching are student-based, everyone benefits."
 
"Two, my students often tell me that my style of lesson presentation actually breaks down the process of learning, which makes mathematics interesting for them to learn," said Nwocha. "For example, I do not give out worksheets in class. The reason is that worksheets take away from the process of learning, which is vital for students at this developmental stage. When students can endure the process by being thorough and thoughtful in their approach, they tend to master the materials faster! Even though the process is slow and painful at first, the students are happier for it by the end because they understand the intent of the lesson or topic."

"Third, I work with the administration of my school to improve the graduation rate by offering intervention classes to students who are struggling to meet graduation requirements," said Nwocha. "Last semester, I offered three days of after-school intervention classes to 27 seniors and 31 underclassmen. Nearly 90% of the seniors passed the class at the end of the semester, thereby meeting their graduation requirements."

"Four, I have had parents reach out to me and/or the school administration for a good cause," said Nwocha. "These parents tell me their kids speak highly of my class. When I ask for further explanation, the parents say they see great improvements in their children's grades. One parent stated, 'I noticed that my daughter comes back from school, and all she does is repeat things you said or did in the classroom. Thank you for being a positive role model for my daughter. She really likes your class."

"For every parent that is bold to let me know how they feel about my classes, there are countless others who may not have time or the courage to reach out! On this note, I am proud to be a LifeChanger. I will continue to do the same thing - motivate, inspire, encourage, and make math meaningful and interesting for all students," said Nwocha.