Mr. Taylor is one of the math teachers at Vestavia, and he is very passionate about what he does. He teaches Honors Precalculus, Accelerated Honors Precalculus, Accelerated Honors Algebra II, and Math Theory 10 and 11. He is also one of the math team sponsors!
He chose to teach math because he enjoyed it as a high schooler at Winfield High School, and it is now his 27th year teaching–the 20th at Vestavia. He says that, in the process of teaching, he himself has learned a lot more about math and all its intricacies. His favorite subject to teach is Algebra II as he has a strong love-hate relationship with calculus. As much as he has grown to enjoy it now, he still, like many of us, has bad memories of math from college. Despite all this, he is a great teacher who loves to help his students have, as he described it, “aha!” moments. He loves to see his students apply what they have learned to succeed.
Tips:
Is he or is he about to be your teacher? Here are a few tips! Avoid using the slide-and-divide technique or learning the trig-ratios with the “hand trick." Also, make sure you are prepared at the beginning of class with your notes and work out.
What’s Mr. Taylor like outside of school?
Believe it or not, teachers do exist outside of the classroom, and Mr. Taylor does a lot with his time! Interest-wise, he loves to travel and watch gymnastics. He’s followed gymnastics for many years, having owned tickets to the University of Alabama meets for 20 years now. He even attended the Olympic Trials this summer! Other interests of his include playing with his dogs and playing the piano.
Who is Mr. Taylor as a person?
Mr. Taylor enjoyed most parts of school when he was younger, but he, much like too many of us, hated waking up to go to school. He always had the idea of being a teacher at the back of his head, but he was unsure for a lot of his school career. He considered careers and professions like being a doctor, but he hated his science classes. His father had pushed him to become a teacher, and two out of his three sisters were already teachers. He himself wasn’t sure, but when he got his first job, he knew he had fallen in love with it. If he had to choose a different career, however, he would choose to either be a pilot, music history professor, or band director. Moving backward, he grew up in the countryside, so he spent a lot of his childhood biking and riding his four-wheeler. Having access to a lot of land, he loved to explore, and he somehow even managed to stay safe from all the snakes and poison ivy. In middle school, he gained a new passion as he joined band. Band took up most of his time in high school. Every winter, he loved when honor bands would be held. Can you believe that Mr. Taylor was also a band kid?
Finishing up, here are a few fun facts about Mr. Taylor! Did you know that one of his former students was in the NFL? Also, he used to be a huge tennis fan until all his favorite players retired from the scene. He loves music, and he especially enjoys classical and wind band music. His favorite band is The Mamas and Papas. He loves pizza, and his dream vacation was to go to Sydney, Australia which he actually did back in 2019. He had a $500 roundtrip ticket, and he was able to go there while also stopping by Tasmania! On the trip, he feared for his life once on an inflatable boat, but luckily for all of us, he made it back! His favorite place, on the other hand, is Iceland, but he said that Iceland was as expensive as it is pretty! On another note, he may make all of you Star Wars fans out there jealous as he owns a large vintage collection of items! One of his favorite movies is The Empire Strikes Back, and another is called Paper Moon!
Mr. Taylor is one of my favorite teachers because he is truly passionate about what he does. As a part of the math team, I think I can speak for many when I say that we truly appreciate him and all his efforts. To conclude, he left a few words of advice for his students. Do what makes you happy, and don’t forget to chill out every once in a while!
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