New, familiar face teaching math!

Annamarie Strickland has taught for 30 years starting her career here at West Florence in 1986. Strickland also taught a year at a private school before moving to Virginia, where she taught 12 years at Lord Botetourt High School. Strickland has come

full circle and is now back at West Florence!

"I've always wanted to be a teacher. Mathematics and Science were the only subjects I really enjoyed in high school. I did not like to read or write,” Strickland said. “I had several good math teachers who influenced my decision to choose math as the subject I wanted to teach. I love seeing the light bulb come on when my students get a new concept! Teaching is fun and I like being around my students.”

Strickland said that being a math teacher gave her the opportunity to be a working mom and a stay at home mom.

"If I were not a math teacher, I probably would have been a nurse," Strickland said.

Her hobbies are cooking for her family and being outside riding 4 wheelers.

Strickland has taught all kinds of math classes from Algebra to Calculus, except Statistics. "My favorite lesson to teach is PreCalculus and Calculus I," Strickland said.

Math is very difficult for some students and a subject they do not like. "I try to make it as easy as possible by explaining it in terms that they can understand and doing many examples. I always offer one-on-one tutoring after each class to students who are embarrassed to ask questions in the classroom, and most of the time, it eliminates any problems they are having," Strickland said.