Chandler Semb

Hello, my names Brenda Rodriguez and I take Geometry with Ms. Semb this year. Last year, I took Geometry and flunked it. I didn’t understand it, my teacher wasn't flexible at all and just didn’t teach in ways in which I understood. My past teacher didn’t give me motivation or reason to want to do better, however, Ms. Semb is the complete opposite. She cares about her kids like we’re her own kids. She teaches math like I’ve never seen a teacher teach before. I’ve never had a math teacher that made it so easy! All my life, I hated math, but now, I look forward to her class every day. Apart from being an amazing teacher, Ms. Semb cares like no other. She cares about our mental health as she recognizes that in these days, teens are going through some of the worse times. Ms. Semb does her best to be compassionate and understanding. One time I was having a really hard week. I was falling behind in class because I just didn’t have the energy to do anything and she emailed me and told me that she was proud of me for everything that I was doing. She reminded me how smart I was and how hard I was working. She reiterated to me that she’s here for me and that if there’s anything that I need I can always email her. She laughs with us, smiles with us, and makes jokes with us. All around she makes class fun, math is math you know? Not a lot of people like math, but man, Ms. Semb has made math my favorite class of the day! It’s funny at Cypress Creek (the high school I attend) they do teacher of the year awards too. When Ms. Semb didn’t get it, we were all outraged haha! We thought it was totally rigged! Ms. Semb has built a relationship with each and every one of us, and besides being a rockstar teacher she’s a friend, someone we can all trust and someone who fixes our problems even if they have nothing to do with math. I text Ms. Semb that I’m stressed about a science test and she’ll text me reminding me that I can do it and that I’ll be okay. She’s someone we can rant to when we have a stressful day knowing that her classroom is aways a safe space; a place for all of us to be ourselves and not have to worry about the stress of high school life. She leaves no kid behind, checks in CONSTANTLY to make sure we understand the lesson. and if we’re a little iffy she goes back without any hesitation. I remember a time back in the first quarter, my grade in her class was slipping because online school had me missing assignments after assignments. Ms. Semb sat there emailing me back and forth until 11 pm telling me exactly what I need to do, how to do it, and updated everything right when I did it. If I can say one final thing about Ms. Semb is that, if anyone, she deserves all the awards of life. She has not only changed me life, my view on learning / school, but also helped change so many other students' perspectives, as well. Thank you for your consideration.

Brenda Rodriguez