CHS has a new leader of the math department this school year. After working as a math teacher for 10 years at the high school, Mrs. Nicole Arbelaez has taken on a new position in the district as the P-12 Director of Mathematics Instruction. 

Before this new role, Arbelaez primarily taught calculus and precalculus in addition to serving as the math league advisor. She dedicated a lot of her time as a teacher to helping and teaching students of all ages, which included her organization of the annual Math Carnival. At the event high school students plan and lead learning-based activities for younger grades.

“I’m always looking for a problem I can solve,” Arbelaez said. 

Although she loves teaching and math, Arbelaez said she strives to take on new tasks and challenges. In choosing to apply for the new position, Arbelaez said she was at a point where her life and school were changing. She said she felt as if she had solved all the problems that were available to her and that teaching math had no longer challenged her the way it did previously. 

Arbelaez said she has always loved math; she describes it as a second language that she has always been able to understand. Student teaching was a pivotal experience for Arbelaez. During this time, she discovered a genuine passion for working with students.

“I actually was going to be an actuary,” Arbelaez said, “but I took a couple of the tests and realized that a cubicle was not going to be the life for me.” 

Upon taking on this new role, Arbelaez has become responsible for the math curriculum from grades K-12. She said she expected to get along fine with the high school and middle school students, but said she found she really enjoys being at Eleanor Rush Intermediate School where Arbelaez gets to see the younger students be excited about learning math. 

Previously, the department head was responsible for grades 6-12. 

“I think now it’s much more involved with the education our students are getting in math much younger,” Arbelaez said. “Like, yeah, back to elementary school, after being at the high school level for so long. You just learned so much.” 

Arbelaez said she enjoys seeing all the different ages and dynamics in the classrooms when it comes to math. One of her favorite parts as the new supervisor is visiting classrooms. From stopping into the high school classes to going into the elementary classes at New Albany, she said she loves seeing students learning. One of her goals as the department head is to have students be excited about learning math and to get rid of the mindset that they aren’t good at it or can’t do it.

Another change, not for the department but for Arbelaez, has been the transition between jobs. She describes her new role as being everywhere at once. 

“I’m not ever here in this office,” Arbelaez said of her office, located in E hall. 

She compares it to teaching. Arbelaez could have a timed plan for teaching and spent the bulk of her time in her classroom. But now, anything can happen, and she could end up anywhere. 

While promoting math and learning to the students, she notes that she too has been learning a lot. 

“I am really happy to be learning a lot. I feel like every day I’m learning again, and so that is really exciting,” Arbelaez said. “Like, because my kids are older, so I’m like, I forget what a seven-year-old is like.” 

She said that she feels like a student again, as she is still learning, just as the students are.

“I was a teacher who wanted to teach it all, so wanting to be the director and still teach it all is in my nature,” Arbelaez said. 

Arbelaez said she hopes that one day, most likely at a college, she will be able to teach and be a director or department head. If given the opportunity, Arbelaez said she wouldn’t choose to be both a teacher and department head since she would never be able to pick just one class to teach.

“I truly loved being a teacher,” Arbelaez said. 

Arbelaez said she will miss teaching and being with her students, however she is glad to take on this opportunity and to explore the opportunities that come with it. She said she can’t wait to see how the math department changes in the coming years, and wishes the best for all students in math.