Noyce Scholar Profile
Frank Mooney
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics, Secondary Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Stonehill College
Current academic or teaching status:
Junior
School and school district:
N/A
Background:
I’m currently in my junior year at Stonehill College studying Mathematics and Secondary Education. Specifically, I enjoy statistics and combinatorics. I plan to become a high school math teacher and a hockey coach when I finish school. I am originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan and now live in Sudbury, Massachusetts. In my free time, I enjoy being active by playing hockey and going to the gym as well as playing video games and watching my favorite sports teams.
Why do you want to teach:
I want to teach primarily to help my students reach their potential and be successful both inside and outside of school. Another important aspect of teaching is to be a mentor to the students you teach and ultimately be a role model. I became interested in teaching because I wanted to be just like some of the teachers I had. I hope to do the same with my students in the future.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
My freshman year I tutored kids from Brockton once a week at a local church after school. The student I tutored in the beginning was not very interested in his academic work, especially math. By relating some of his work to his particular interests like sports and video games, I was able to get him to enjoy doing more of his work. In a semester, he went from failing in his geometry class to being near the top of the class. It was really rewarding to see the transformation. I hope to see more of the same in my experiences teaching in the future.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has given me a great opportunity to learn how to become a successful math teacher. Also, I get to connect with other people with the same interests here at Stonehill College and at other universities with Noyce scholarship programs. In addition, I will have an opportunity to teach in a high needs school district as a result of this which will be a great experience to have as a teacher.
