By Dianne Frances D. Powell
As a student, Sarah Cohen ’07 was certain she wasn’t fit for teaching, not least because of her fear of public speaking. This is why she chose to major in mathematics and computer information systems at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. “I thought I’d be happy at a desk job,” she said.
Cohen’s professors, however, saw something else: the promise of an educator.
One of her former professors, Dottie L. King, Ph.D., even praised her patience in working with younger students with math assignments. It was King — now SMWC president — who told Cohen that she would make a great math teacher.
It turns out King was right.
Cohen, whose love for her students outweigh her nervousness about public speaking, is now on year 11 of teaching mathematics at Griffith High School in northwest Indiana. She is among the school’s AP instructors who are spearheading Griffith’s Advanced Placement Curriculum. In early October, the school was named School of the Year by the University of Notre Dame’s Advanced Placement Teacher Investment Program, also known as AP TIP-IN. Cohen created and continues to teach the AP TIP-IN statistics program at Griffith.
Cohen credits her former professors — King, Ellen Cunningham, SP, ’61 and Lana Lytle ’98 — for the confidence and inspiration to follow this career path. “They saw something in me long before I ever did,” the Portage resident said. Later, Cohen also completed the transition to teaching licensure program at The Woods.
Using this strong foundation from The Woods, Cohen now works every day to empower young people through STEM education. She believes in her students just like her SMWC professors believed in her. Along the way, she shares with students the knowledge she gained and friendships she made at her beloved SMWC. “I talk about my Woods experience almost every single day,” she said.