Waterford High School's Deana Dye was recently recognized by the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics as the Outstanding High School Math Teacher in Southeast Ohio.

The group gave out awards to teachers in eight districts at its November conference in Cincinnati.

Dye teaches Algebra I, Algebra II and Calculus to ninth- through 12th graders at Waterford. She has worked at Waterford for the last eight years, after spending a decade at Warren High School.

Question: What does it mean to you to receive this award?

Answer: I love teaching math. I love to make math seem easy to the students. My greatest reward is when I see a student... when their eyes light up and they understand how to do something. That is what drives me everyday.

The thing I try to do is I try to make math fun. Every problem I do I try to incorporate it into their daily lives.

It means a lot to me to receive that award because I've been teaching for 18 years. I'm very proud of that award.

Q: How were you nominated for this award?

A: My principal (Randy Shrider) nominated me, back last January. He decided to nominate me, and I got a packet in the mail asking me my philosophy in teaching and I filled out a lot of paperwork.

In my calculus class, the quadratic formula, we brought that to life (with a song). My seniors, every time they needed to use the quadratic formula, they would say, "We need the quadratic formula song,"... and they woud sing it.

I would lead them in song and we would sing it. And they would act it out. I videotaped them doing it, and I sent that in with my form.

Q: What first attracted you to teaching math?

A: Well, I had a very good math teacher when I was in school and her name was Mrs (Nancy) Miller. And I was a sophomore at Fort Frye High School, and I just loved going to math and I loved every minute of it, and I knew right then that that's what I wanted to go into.

Q: How has teaching math changed over the years?

A: There's been a lot of changes. Just like in the last couple years, we all have Smart Boards. Well, Smart Boards make my job easier. Just like when I'm teaching graphing, which I am now. All I have to do is hit a button and drag and I have a coordinate plane.

It's such a time saver. And now when I graph... I can shade with stars, I can shade with smiley faces. It just makes it more fun (for students).

Another thing is graphing calculators. I guess technology has changed so much and it's really made math even more fun.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

A: We really have wonderful students here at Waterford and they join right in. If I want them to sing, they'll sing. They love bringing the math to life, and that's what makes my job more fun.

Evan Bevins conducted the interview.