FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS
Dr. Matthew Kennedy, Mathematics Department Chair Dr. Matthew Kennedy has been at Laurel for seven years but has 22 years of teaching experience under his belt. An assistant professor at The Ohio State University Medical School, Dr. Kennedy moved on to teach at another private school before finding his place as department chair of the mathematics department at Laurel where he oversees math curriculum across all divisions and teaches math in the Upper School.
Dr. Kennedy has a true passion for mathematics and the way it is taught. From a young age, he remembers enjoying puzzles and working to figure things out. “I’ve always liked to explore and play games and my family fostered that. I love music, math, and science,” he said. “I bring my passion to the classroom. We have fun doing hard things—this makes you persevere, work harder, and feel more connected. That is the goal here at Laurel.”
“Mathematics is not siloed here at Laurel,” Dr. Kennedy said of the philosophy behind Laurel’s K-12 math curriculum. “We want to explore the world around us not just learn from a textbook. Math is a tool to be able to do that. It supports the sciences and extends theoretical thinking and how to contemplate things. If you can model a situation or some application in terms of math and explain it, you know something. It is about developing the concepts behind math.” When asked how research from Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls (LCRG) weaves into the math curriculum, Dr. Kennedy stated that “Ownership of learning, resilience, engaging in civil discourse . . . these threads run through all K-12 math classes in every thing we do. These LCRG principles come into play when teachers think about their learning, reflect on what they are doing, and how they are learning the information. Throughout the year we ask if students are developing the right strategies to learn better? It is about so much more than memorizing.” Highlights | WINTER 2023
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