Reining in the talent

“I taught that class on Monday. It seems like for full-time horse trainers, their day off is Monday because they go to horse shows on the weekend,” she said.

Monday is a day that Warner still finds special.

“I’ve been teaching beginning equine training ever since. What’s neat about that is that it’s still on the same day. It’s still on Monday and it means a lot to me because it’s like the trainers’ day off,” Warner said. One class became two, two became three, and so on until Warner was teaching right up to the maximum number of units before being a full-time teacher. When a full-time position opened up, she applied and got the job.

Warner teaches a wide breadth of courses at Pierce. They include: riding, training, breeding, show management, husbandry and production. The training class is Warner’s favorite to teach.

“It’s basically a psychological class on how animals learn. It’s a really neat class. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know anything about horses.

It’s about training, how animals learn and how you learn,” she said. “It’s absolutely one of my favorite classes. You can learn anything from training a dog, a cat, a rat, your boyfriend, your girlfriend or your teachers.”

In 2013, Warner and a student performed a Dog vs. Sheep Trick Contest, where a clicker-trained sheep named Pierce, performed the same tricks that an Australian Shepard could do.

Horses have been a part of Warner’s life since she was two. In her 44 years of working with horses, she has won over 100 championship titles, some of them at the state, world and national levels.

“All I’ve ever done is horses,” she said. Warner grew up in Malibu where her family had about a third of an acre of property. Open space and community provided a place for Warner to ride freely.

“I grew up riding horses on the beach. All my neighbors rode. I literally used to take my horse down to the beach and ride him with no bridal or anything,” she said. “We’d ride our horses to the show. I’d ride my horse to the supermarket, tie him up outside. Mayfair Market it was called, on Point Dume.”

A life of working with these animals has provided her with valuable lessons, Warner said.

“I think the whole field of animals instills a good work ethic in people. You have to get up early and you go to bed late,” she said. It’s like any kind of farmer. And I’ll tell you, if you have a good work ethic and you’re honest, you can always get a job. If you’re lazy and you don’t try, you’re out.” students experience. In her book Mathaphobia: How You Can Overcome Your Math Fears and Become a Rocket Scientist, LePoint explains that it is not that “people are poor with math.”

Warner tries to help students who work really hard. Over the years that she’s been in the business, Warner has built a network of connections. She sometimes receives calls from people who ask if she can recommend anyone. In one case, an Olympic rider who was looking for a student to work for them, reached out to Warner.

“The kids that I have that are honest and try hard, I will sure try hard for them,” she said.

“A lot of people fall into a category I call ‘Samuel the Struggler,’” LePoint said. “They’re very brilliant but they need assistance with communicating their innovative thoughts with other people.” students by using games and relating math to laughable realworld situations. Her tool of choice for putting students at ease is a warm smile.

“I have realized that when people smile, it shuts off the fear in their brain,” LePoint said. “So I look at people straight in their face and smile.”

This infectious energy and love of teaching has been noted among many of her students.

“She [LePoint] is very thorough,” Metzger said. “She is determined and really brings purpose to the subject.”

This testament is seconded by LePoint’s colleagues as well.

Melody Rashidian, professor of math at Pierce College, attended classes at CSUN with LePoint. A native from Iran, Rashidian experienced difficulty connecting with her peers. This changed when she met LePoint.

“She is very friendly and personable,” Rashidian said. “We were in the same classes so we had study group together and understood what the other was going through.”

LePoint and Rashidian have maintained their friendship despite their opposite work schedules.

The women support each other in both the personal and professional aspects of each others lives.

“I was so proud of Olympia [LePoint] when her first book was released,” Rashidian said. “She is a very hard worker and is dedicated to helping people learn the skills for understanding mathematics.”

For LePoint, teaching is second nature. Despite a background in modern dance, LePoint pursued a career in teaching because she “absolutely loves teaching.”

“I was born to speak. I was born to teach. And I was born to entertain,” LePoint said. “And I love being entertaining as I teach.”

LePoint encourages her

Sarieu Metzger, 45, is a nursing major at Pierce College. Though

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