Whether Lori White is talking about teaching math, her hobby of puzzling, or taking a walk, it's hard not to share in her excitement.
And the best part: it's not an act. White's enthusiasm for the things she's passionate about is so completely genuine that it's no wonder she's been such a student favorite for the past 35 years.
In fact, one of her past students who was at Stanford University was able to invite a teacher to watch him receive an award. From all his teachers, he invited White."He had to give a speech and spoke about the passion that I have and how excited I can get about things like the mean value theorem," she remembers fondly. "The thing is that if you get excited about something as a teacher, then that spreads to the kids."
White's commitment to lifelong learning---no matter the source--is very much a part of who she is. "I learn so much from the kids because they say things differently than I would and they say it in a way that makes sense to them," she says. "I steal from them. The kids often come at things in a different way and it's fantastic."
White is equally committed to her students. She spends three years (grades 10 through 12) with one cohort of students, carrying them from Algebra II all the way through BC Calculus. "The joy of it is that I know the kids after the first year and I develop relationships with them," she says, adding that she often attends student sporting and arts events because she wants to know them outside of school. "You get to see the full picture of the kid, so that you have something to talk to them about. And if you have conversations with them because you're truly interested in who they are, then they want to do something for you."
White is an Ohio native who attended Miami University, where she earned her degree in math education. She has been married to her husband, retired SHHS Latin teacher Robert White, for 32 years. She and Robert have been avid longtime puzzling hobbyists, and often scheduled family vacations when her now-grown children were small to coincide with national puzzling league conventions.
As for whether retirement is on the horizon, White shakes her head. "I love what I'm doing. How do you want walk away from something you really love?" she says. "Plus, I'm not ready to let it go. This is a great place to be."