Math Teacher Ellen Eckman Is District's February Employee of the Month

Ellen Eckman, a seventh grade math teacher at is the 's Employee of the Month for February.

Ellen, a long-time resident of Springfield, earned her bachelor’s degree from West Chester University in secondary math education, and her master’s degree from Neumann University in educational leadership. She spent the first 10 years of her educational career teaching in the parochial school system at several regional Catholic high schools before coming to the the district in 1993. Ellen has spent all 19 of her years with Springfield teaching math to seventh graders at ETR.

Ellen teaches two different math courses: Honors Algebra I and Math 7. The students in Honors Algebra I go on to take Honors Geometry in eighth grade and start with Honors Algebra II as freshmen at . Ellen tries to impress upon every student she teaches that “Thinking takes longer than doing in math” and that “Conversations about math reinforce the processes necessary to find solutions.”

Ellen also noted how important literacy and technology have become when teaching math. “Technology is a part of our daily lessons through the use of a Smart Board, online texts and graphing calculators – Literacy in math is essential because of all the technical reading it requires,” she said.

Ellen functions in leadership roles as the math department manager and the team leader for colleagues on the Wildcats team.

"ETR is a great place to teach; caring, compassionate, where we focus on the whole child” Ellen said.

“Ellen is a phenomenal teacher and colleague who is thoughtful, dedicated, and generous. She is always there to listen and lend a helping hand to her colleagues. As a teacher, she offers her time to students after school and strives to help students understand math and its many applications in life,” said Stephanie Pierce, the language arts teacher on the Wildcats team.

“Ellen is the epitome of what a teacher should be," said Bernie Villone, social studies teacher. "She is dedicated, arriving early at school to help students. When you walk by her room, you will see students at the board and in small groups working, engaged and focused on solving problems. She has high expectations for every one of her students and will gladly do whatever it takes to challenge them to give their best. I can’t think of any better compliment than when I hear a student say, ‘I never really understood math until I had Mrs. Eckman. She is the best math teacher I’ve ever had.’”

“Ellen is a teacher leader. Her team is a great example of teachers working together to support students. I am honored to work with Ellen,” Principal Dan Tracy concluded.

For all these reasons and many more, please celebrate Ellen Eckman as the Springfield School District February Employee of the Month.

Information from the Springfield School District Website.