Angela Dilts-Pollock values not only educating her students, but also helping them to grow into who they are and who they will become.
“It’s my job to help students discover who they are and how to be the best version of themselves,” said Pollock. “Teaching of content comes after, when students feel safe in my classroom and that I care about them as humans.”
Pollock, who has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education, has been a mathematics teacher for about 15 years. She currently teaches middle school mathematics at Farnsley Middle School (Jefferson County).
“As a math teacher, I feel that it is my job to relate all content to students’ lives outside of the classroom, which allows them to recognize and have conversations about their education with adults who are not their schoolteachers,” she said.
Pollock teaches lessons that show her students how math can be applied to their day-to-day lives. Some of these lessons include activities such as analyzing recipes, discussing money and reading graphs. One lesson that she speaks highly of is where students get to bring their own items to the classroom as hands-on examples for solving ratios. Pollock said the lesson engages her students because it’s relevant to their lives.
In 2021, Pollock won the WHAS 11 and LGE Excellence in Classroom and Educational Leadership Award winner and she has been a state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. In 2023, she was named a Valvoline Teacher Achievement Award winner.
Pollock has served on several groups to improve mathematical instruction and led training for new teachers, such as the Systems at Work program in Jefferson County. This program allows teachers to build connections and support among teachers across the district. She said that the program improves the culture of the math department because there is always support available.
Pollock said her goal is to help students learn to become the best version of themselves. Encouraging a child’s confidence helps them become productive members of society.
“I want my students to leave my class feeling like they have something of value to contribute,” she said.
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