Peg Board

FACULTY
PROFILE
the grade that Math Department
6 = Chair Adrienne Lazes was in
when she decided she wanted to be a
math teacher. Helping her classmates
with their math homework had already
kindled an interest in teaching, but an
exceptional sixth grade math teacher
deepened her enthusiasm for both.
“My parents thought it was just a
phase,” she said, “but when I went to
high school, I fell in love with the highschool-level
curriculum and knew I
wanted to teach high school math.”
the only grade in which she
9 =
ever attended a public school.
Other than ninth grade, Lazes said, she
had attended only private schools.
“I prefer the independent school
environment,” she said. “You get to
know your students a lot better than
you can in public schools, and I like the
autonomy that teachers have over their
classrooms.”
the number of school years
8 =
Lazes has been teaching
at Darrow. As an undergraduate
at Hampshire College in Amherst,
Massachusetts, she participated in
a licensure program through nearby
Mount Holyoke College, which
provided hands-on classroom time
through a senior year pre-practicum.
The everyday teaching experience
reinforced her passion for math education
and also opened the door to
Darrow, her first teaching job.
the year in which she received
her interdisciplinary
2016 =
master of arts degree from Skidmore
College in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Her thesis addressed the influence of
history and religion on mathematical
theorems in 17th-century France.
the number of math courses
4 =
she is currently teaching at
Darrow: Algebra II, Calculus, Advanced
Topics in Calculus, and a spring elec-
Adrienne Lazes: By the Numbers
Math Department Chair Adrienne Lazes (left) works with Eliza Hughes ’18 in Algebra II.
tive on the History of Math. She has
also taught Probability and Statistics,
which is offered every other year.
Lazes’s favorite irrational
1.618 =
number, also known as phi
and the golden mean. Phi represents
the division of a given unit of length into
two parts, the ratio of which is considered
aesthetically pleasing. The ratio
is found in natural formations and is
commonly used in art and design.
Lazes’s favorite regular number.
First because “I just like
24 =
even numbers,” she said; second, because
she was born on February 24; but
most important, because it is the name
of her favorite TV show, the 2001–2010
Fox action/drama that starred Kiefer
Sutherland. “My dog is not named Kiefer
by accident,” she notes.
the Roman numerals that
II =
denote Darrow’s advanced
algebra course, Algebra II, which is her
favorite subject to teach. “I love the
concepts that I teach in Algebra II,” she
said, “but I also feel like the students
at that level are more engaged. It’s a
course in which many discover they
have more aptitude for math than they
imagined. I’ve gotten notes from alumni
saying that my classes made them
feel more comfortable with math, and
gave them the confidence to explore
electives like Probability and Statistics
when they hadn’t believed they could.”
the number of other roles in
3 =
which she currently serves
at Darrow. Lazes is the School’s Tech
Training Coordinator, working to assist
faculty and students with educational
software and platforms used for
communication, grading, comments,
and other functions. She is also the
Assistant Coach for the Girls Varsity
Basketball team and a house parent in
Brethren’s. In years past, she served as
Spring Term Coordinator and the faculty
director of the Alpine sports program.
the current number of
726 =
movies that Lazes has in her
DVD collection. An impassioned fan of
all things Harry Potter, she also enjoys
video games, writing fictional stories,
and taking walks and hikes with Kiefer.
DARROW SCHOOL 15