Referenda 2024, Investing in our Most Valued Resources: Sennett Math Teacher’s Class Is About More Than Numbers

Jesus Cortez held both his arms over his head, making a large U-shape.

“And when you add an exponent to the second power to the equation, the graph looks like this!” he said to his class.

The small group of students continued laughing as Cortez stretched his left arm up and dropped his right arm down, bending both slightly at the elbow. 

“That’s the graph with x3,” one student exclaimed, pointing to the series of graphs on the monitor.

Cortez, or Mr. J, as he's known by his students at Sennett Middle School, has always loved solving problems. He spent years as an undergrad at UW-Madison studying complex math principles, computer programming and modeling software, earning a degree in aeronautical engineering. However, after graduating and applying to jobs, he realized working at a corporation might not offer him the impact he was looking to make

Cortez was left with a new problem: what would he do with an engineering degree, now that he didn’t want to be an engineer? It didn’t take him long to find an answer: get a master’s degree in special education and become a special education math teacher.

Now in his second year of teaching, his impact is already felt by his students and the greater community. Last spring, he received an honorable mention for WMTV’s annual Crystal Apple Awards. Despite the accolade, Cortez is quick to share that he is “definitely not an expert at teaching” and knows he has a lot to learn. 

In addition to sitting in on his students’ general education math class, Cortez provides resources to his students during “What I Need” (WIN) class time, which he describes as “an extra dose of learning.” WIN also helps students build their confidence on not only the material, but themselves.

“Early teenage students, they're going through it,” Cortez said. “So my biggest thing to teach them is just believe in yourself. That’s probably the hardest part I have as a teacher. I'm not here to make you feel bad about what you don't know.” 

Last year Cortez created “Wellness Wednesdays” – dedicated class time that lets students work through issues they’re dealing with, learning crucial skills like communication techniques, teamwork, cultural representation, building self esteem, academic anxiety and more. The initiative also builds up life skills and community, as the students come together to help one another.

Eighth-grade student Jessica met Cortez three years ago when he was student-teaching at Sennett, and he’s been her teacher ever since. Cortez explained how Jessica is “incredibly smart,” but lacked confidence in math and feared getting an answer wrong. Now, she’s one of the first to respond to his questions, and excitedly asked if they could play an online math game before class ended. 

“When he helps me understand the math lesson, it makes me want to do more, because I know what I’m doing,” Jessica said. “That’s what makes me happy.”

Transitioning careers from an aeronautical engineer to a middle school math teacher is a win-win situation for Cortez and his students.

“At the end of the day, teaching comes from the heart,” Cortez said. “You truly have to have that positive outlook that students can learn and they will learn.”