The impact of a high school teacher during her days at Brownwood High led Terri Stephens back to the classroom after initially pursing another career field.
Stephens just completed her 25th year in teaching with 21 of those years coming at her alma mater.
“I’m in the math department at Brownwood High School and currently I teach on ramps College Algebra, on ramps Pre-Cal, regular Pre-Cal and AP Statistics,” Stephens said.
Reflecting back to her high school days, Stephens said, “The teacher that had the biggest impact on me is Ross Rowlett. I had him for Geometry and for Trig and Analysis. I don’t know what it was, he was very stern and very strict, but he made me feel like I was capable of doing things. He instilled confidence in me that I could do it, even though I knew he didn’t think so sometimes.”
Stephens attended Tarleton and graduated with a degree in Accounting, but, “I did my stint doing tax accounting and I didn’t like it. We lived in Gustine so I went back to school thinking I can teach in this area. So I went and got my teaching certification,” she said.
After four years at Blanket ISD, she made the move to Brownwood.
As for teaching math, Stephens said, “I don’t know that math really hooked me, but I don’t like to read or write so English was out. History was a lot of reading and I really wasn’t up for that. Science wasn’t really my forte, either, so that just left math. Math also somewhat ties into the business and accounting background I had.”
For Stephens, reaching a student in the subject she teaches, or on a personal level, are equally as important.
“I enjoy helping the kids,” Stephens said. “Even though teaching is crazy now with all the standards and hoops we have to jump through, every year that I come back is because of the kids. If I can help just one or two, then I’ve done my job. I feel like God put me here for a reason. Sometimes it’s hard, but I can think of several over the years that I’ve helped not necessarily mathematically, but with life in general.”
As for what she appreciates most about the job, it’s without a doubt the relationship she’s developed with her students over the years.
“This job without the kids is not something I would continue to do day in and day out,” Stephens said. “I like to be involved in the kids’ lives. They need somebody that’s there for them and believes in them. That’s part of the reason why I help Coach Hohertz with the basketball program, and I’ve been doing that for 10-plus years. It’s about building that relationship so they know that they have somebody they can turn to if they need somebody, especially if they don’t have that kind of support at home.”
She and her husband Mark have a son, Mitch, who also graduated from Brownwood High School.