By: Natalie Neuhaus (Communications Coordinator ‘21)
As the school year begins in quite an unusual fashion, we have some new additions to the faculty! Mr. Paranya, a new member of our math department this year, has taught a variety of ages over the past twenty years. He began his career by teaching middle-school math in New Jersey before moving to New York, where he taught everything from fourth- to twelfth-grade math at the Brearley School in New York City. This year, Paranya is teaching geometry and statistics.
When asked about his favorite part of teaching, Paranya responded: “My favorite part of teaching is spending time with students. The best part of my day is when a student asks a question I can answer, and it leads to them understanding a complex idea.” I also asked Paranya what he loved about math. He said, “I love math because it is beautiful. The patterns and relationships that are hidden all around us can become clear by understanding math. I also love the range of ideas in mathematics. In high school, it can often seem like all math is just a march toward calculus—at least that is what I thought in high school—but there are so many other great topics like statistics, applied math, computer science, and more.”
Besides teaching math, Paranya is the boys cross country coach and the advisor to the debate team. Paranya mentioned, “it has been weird to coach during these times because teams can only practice and there are no meets, but it has been nice to be able to be on campus together and run.”
Paranya told me of some of his interests outside of math: “Since the pandemic started I have been doing a lot of cooking and origami, but I also love rock climbing, running, hiking, knitting, weaving, spinning, computer programming/electronics, supporting my favorite soccer team, and playing video games.”
We are so happy to welcome Mr. Paranya as a member of our community! If you happen to see Mr. Paranya on campus, please don’t hesitate to stop by and say hi (six feet away, of course)!
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