2008 Woodie Awards
Teacher Feature
Math teacher enjoys reading, traveling
Jon McEwen
Issue date: 3/29/07 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 1
Amy Martin started as a part time-teacher in 1998, later becoming a full-time instructor at Amarillo College. She has taught many students the importance of mathematics, but behind all the number-crunching is a colorful personality. Growing up to teach math never was a big interest of hers.
"I thought about being a lot of things: teaching and dancing," Martin said. "When I was in the fourth grade, I started taking music lessons."
Martin moved to the Texas Panhandle from Wichita Falls when she was 8. She has lived in Amarillo since then and attended Amarillo High School as a teenager.
"My favorite subject in high school was music for awhile and theater for awhile, but for the long haul, it was English," Martin said. "I come from a family of English majors. I loved chemistry in high school. I had a great chemistry teacher."
Growing up in Amarillo, Martin was interested in a variety of things.
"When I was in high school, drinking started to get cool; smoking was also cool. I never was interested in those things," she said. "I played the piano in high school. There was this fabulous drive-in called Stanley's. It was cool to go to."
Martin has a master's degree in English as well as one in mathematics. She has seen a variety of classrooms.
"The hardest class I took in college was advanced calculus," she said. "It's very theoretical, and the instructor did not help matters. He was an obvious chauvinist."
Today Martin's hobbies are just as eclectic as when she was in high school. She has been to many parts of the world.
"I love to travel, especially to London," she said. Her favorite place to eat is across the ocean in a basement somewhere in London.
"There was a little Italian restaurant in London. It is shut down now, and it makes me sick," she said. "The family was from Italy, and I think they moved back."
Martin's mother passed down her love for classic film.
"Some of my favorite movies are The Lion in the Winter and The Sound of Music," Martin said.
"I don't like mainstream movies too much. A lot of new movies are just moneymakers. I would rather have no special effects if the story is good. What gives a movie holding power is the story."
Her list of favorite books includes East of Eden, Look Homeward Angel, and All Quiet on the Western Front.
Behind that clock of exceptional teaching ability, Martin is a savvy moviegoer and reader. She dispels all stereotypes of boring math teachers with her lively demeanor.
"I thought about being a lot of things: teaching and dancing," Martin said. "When I was in the fourth grade, I started taking music lessons."
Martin moved to the Texas Panhandle from Wichita Falls when she was 8. She has lived in Amarillo since then and attended Amarillo High School as a teenager.
"My favorite subject in high school was music for awhile and theater for awhile, but for the long haul, it was English," Martin said. "I come from a family of English majors. I loved chemistry in high school. I had a great chemistry teacher."
Growing up in Amarillo, Martin was interested in a variety of things.
"When I was in high school, drinking started to get cool; smoking was also cool. I never was interested in those things," she said. "I played the piano in high school. There was this fabulous drive-in called Stanley's. It was cool to go to."
Martin has a master's degree in English as well as one in mathematics. She has seen a variety of classrooms.
"The hardest class I took in college was advanced calculus," she said. "It's very theoretical, and the instructor did not help matters. He was an obvious chauvinist."
Today Martin's hobbies are just as eclectic as when she was in high school. She has been to many parts of the world.
"I love to travel, especially to London," she said. Her favorite place to eat is across the ocean in a basement somewhere in London.
"There was a little Italian restaurant in London. It is shut down now, and it makes me sick," she said. "The family was from Italy, and I think they moved back."
Martin's mother passed down her love for classic film.
"Some of my favorite movies are The Lion in the Winter and The Sound of Music," Martin said.
"I don't like mainstream movies too much. A lot of new movies are just moneymakers. I would rather have no special effects if the story is good. What gives a movie holding power is the story."
Her list of favorite books includes East of Eden, Look Homeward Angel, and All Quiet on the Western Front.
Behind that clock of exceptional teaching ability, Martin is a savvy moviegoer and reader. She dispels all stereotypes of boring math teachers with her lively demeanor.
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