'A teacher's teacher'
By James Cullum
Debbie DeMaria has offered her creative spin on mathematics to three decades of Lake Braddock Secondary School students, and she has no plans to stop doing that anytime soon.
DeMaria has taught at the school since 1976 and has been the math department chair for the past 11 years.
“I still feel that what I'm doing has made an impact and I still work very hard, engage the kids and use all my resources,” she said.
DeMaria was recently named the 2008 William C. Lowry Outstanding Mathematics Teacher of the Year by the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Her tenure has seen five presidents, the end of the Cold War, fluctuating trouser styles, and she now has the pleasure of teaching children of former students.
“Debbie is a teacher's teacher. I gladly shadow anything she does. She has an amazing connection to students. In my opinion, she's flawless,” said Lake Braddock calculus teacher Sharon Smothers, who nominated DeMaria for the award.
DeMaria has been married to her husband John, a Fairfax County police officer, for 32 years. They have two adult children.
Aside from her work with the county, DeMaria also attends a number of nationwide conferences, where she admittedly “steals” ideas on how to better reach her students with a subject some consider boring.
“Instead of teaching out of one book, she picks and chooses the best material from many sources,” said Lake Braddock Assistant Principal Cynthia Prieto.
“Even though I've been teaching 32 years, I'm still learning and I'm still eager to learn new things,” DeMaria said.
One project DeMaria assigns is called “Calculus Cuisine,” where recipes are chopped into mathematical equations, and if f(x)=2x, then f'(2)=two tablespoons of peanut oil, the first ingredient of spicy plum chicken thighs.
Another project is called “Just Because,” where students are told that everything they learn after high school is learned through their own initiative.
After school it is common to see Demaria's calculus students working out problems in her classroom.
“Just to see that joy in your children adds to your pleasure. Studying calculus doesn't mean it has to be boring,” DeMaria said.