I want students to come out of my classroom with an understanding of why mathematics is important to their lives.”

Susan’s Story

Susan McClellon’s lifelong dream of becoming an educator began with a taekwondo class in the third grade.  She volunteered as a student helper, and was almost immediately asked to teach students on her own.  By age 12 she was teaching without help, and by 14 was teaching adult classes.

After graduating from Shaker Heights High School, Susan’s passion for teaching turned to mathematics.  While pursuing a double major in civil engineering and mathematics, with a minor in psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, she began tutoring college and high school students in mathematics.  She graduated as a valedictorian with multiple awards, including the Francis Dame Award, Varney Award (Honorable Mention) for physics, and a string of honors for academic excellence in structural engineering.

“It has never been more important to encourage the next generation of students to pursue mathematical sciences, and I fully intend to meet this challenge.”  Having learned to apply theoretical results to real-world problems—from designing steel and concrete beams for buildings to writing programs which solve differential equations—she feels ready for the challenge.  “With my background, I will be able to show my students why math is valuable outside the classroom.”