When Tim Fish started teaching at Whiteland Community High School, only two students were enrolled in an Advanced Placement calculus class as an independent study.
Gradually, enrollment began to climb in Advanced Placement math classes. This year, Fish is teaching 16 students in his calculus class, and every student got a high enough score to pass the Advanced Placement exam, giving them college credit for the class.
But Fish has also gone beyond just his own classroom to help students, such as helping as an instructor and speaker at Saturday conferences meant to help students in their Advanced Placement courses.
And now, Fish has been honored for his work by being named the AP-TIP IN Math Teacher of the Year.
Teachers who earn the award are scored by a national panel of judges, who look at participation of students in their Advanced Placement program and the number of students who earn a passing score on their exam, said Karen Morris, program director for AP-TIP Indiana.
Whiteland Community High School has been trying to boost the number of students who enroll in upper level and Advanced Placement classes at all levels, principal Tom Zobel said.
Fish and another teacher, Brian Lukich, who earned the award last year, work together on the curriculum and build expectations for their students, Zobel said.
Students are encouraged and expected to take upper level math classes and Fish uses language like “when they take a class” instead of “if they take a class” to help give students confidence and to get excited about the AP classes, Fish said.
“The main thing is to make sure students are taking the right courses,” he said.
Part of his drive is to give his students experiences and opportunities in high school he didn’t have, he said.
He didn’t have the option to take Advanced Placement math classes while he was a student in his hometown of Linton. He wants students he teaches to be exposed to college-level math before they actually go to college, he said.
“I want to give students more opportunity than I grew up with,” he said.
Fish graduated from Franklin College in 2007 and did his student teaching at Whiteland Community High School. He stayed there as a full-time time teacher after graduating.
Fish is calm in the classroom and is always willing to help students, meeting with those who need help before and after class, Zobel said.
And they respond to his teaching and want to do their best for him, he said.
“He is always making time available to meet with kids,” Zobel said. “He is very available to those students.”
One of the ways he has gained a rapport with students is that in the beginning of his teaching career, he was new to the Advanced Placement program too, Fish said.
During his first winter break as an Advanced Placement teacher, he took 12 years of Advanced Placement tests to get an idea of what his students would be facing, he said.
“While bringing the courses, I had to learn with the students a little,” he said. “I had the perspective that I had to learn this stuff on my own, too.”
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Name: Tim Fish
Family: Wife, Kylie; daughter, Lyra, 1.
Residence: Franklin
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Franklin College; master’s degree in math education from IUPUI
Occupation: Math teacher at Whiteland Community High School
Accolade: Teacher of the Year in Mathematics in the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program for Indiana
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