Lately at PCM, room #22 has been like a revolving door. Starting in the 2019-2020 school year, Algebra I and Calculus teacher Trey Thompson taught there. In addition to teaching, he also was an assistant coach for girl’s track. He had just graduated from Simpson College, where he ran track. Thompson left PCM during the 2020-2021 school year to teach higher level math classes in addition to  being the head coach for boy’s track and field as well as cross country. The new math teacher, Jeremy West, is a good fit so far. He is happy with where he is in his career as a whole. 

“Part of my family was originally from Des Moines, so we decided to move from Nebraska to here. And I always wanted to teach high school math, so that’s why PCM was a great opportunity for me,” West explained. 

West hasn’t always taught math and he is still figuring out how it is done. He has had a very well-rounded teaching career so far. 

“I taught at Des Moines public schools, [where] I taught seventh-grade math. Before that, I lived in Columbus, Neb. and taught two years as a tech teacher and tech integration specialist. I would teach things like information technology, keyboarding to the younger kids, robotics, video production, photoshop and premiere production,” West said. 

  West teaches in a very specific way that he believes is practical to the students. He has been using this philosophy since he arrived at PCM. 

“It all goes back to student learning, but in order to fulfill that, and to be successful; I’m willing to try all kinds of different things,” West reasoned. “[I try to] tie in parts of life that you wouldn’t think relate to mathematics at all. So if I start pulling in things from going to the store [or] something about the size of a cornfield…then that ties it into the student’s lives more and it’s more practical to them.”

“[For example] if you do something wrong, he just yells at you if you do the slightest thing wrong,” Van Ekeren complained. 

Overall, West is glad that he is at PCM and thinks it is a perfect fit for him. He also added that he could stay at PCM for years to come. 

“I like the small town [and] community feel, like the school I went to…back [when I was in high school] it had the same kind of feel…I get the same kind of feel here, and it’s very welcoming,” West said.