The third period bell rings, loud and irritating to the hungry students settling into their seats, already counting down the minutes to a late 1 o’clock lunch. Rustling through their bookbags, they pull out large, thick math packets and any stray writing utensil that can be found among their unorganized supplies. 

Math III Honors students accept their fate and prepare for a long, spiraling lecture on the various equations and complications of algebra, graphing, etc. 

The wide majority of teachers waste no time getting right into notes and lecture, anxious not to waste a single minute of their hour-and-fifteen minute window. 

Contrary to this majority, veteran Gibbons math teacher Shari Frederick starts off her class in a different fashion. 

“Pencils down and packets away!” are often the words spoken cheerfully, at the onset of each class. 

While most students are trained from past, traumatic experiences to conclude that this could only mean a pop quiz, Frederick’s students know this isn’t the case.

A New Way of Teaching

One time it was a story, a detailed personal experience about her and her husband’s recent experience on a plane: the miles per hour they flew, the time in the air, and other scattered bits of information. The class listened intently, quite honestly not knowing how this at all related to their math lesson but too engaged to care. She then posed questions, “Who has been on a plane?” “What did you notice about the speed of the plane or the landing time?” Slowly students got to raising their hands and sharing the seemingly unimportant information.

Later, when the class did distance-over-time word problems, with the speed of planes and other transportation involved, the students weren’t just looking at numbers on paper. They were on that plane, in the pilot’s seat figuring out for themselves what the problem was asking. 

Whether it be her many years of experience or just a creative approach to something most find stubborn and one-dimensional, Frederick has the unique ability to make math an immersive and tangible reality, not just a jumble of equations and numbers.

“I think she goes the second mile to make sure we understand the material and are confident in it,” said Natalia Villarreal, a former student of Frederick’s “Last year before the final we came in on a Saturday morning, had brunch together and a big group review…No other teacher I know willingly spends their Saturday morning at school just to make sure that her students feel that confident.”

An Impact Beyond the Classroom

Originally teaching at Athens Drive before making the switch to Gibbons for her final 10 years of teaching math, Frederick has taught a total of 40 years. Her impact throughout each of those years has and will continue to be forever resonating and impactful. 

Frederick shared a recent experience at a Bruegger’s Bagels where a man approached her saying, “I know that voice anywhere!” 

The man was fully grown and had a beard.

Mrs. Frederick responded, “Excuse me?” 

This wasn’t a stranger – it was actually a previous student of Frederick’s who had recognized her voice as his previous math teacher many years ago at Athens Drive High School. 

“He then paid for my breakfast!” said Frederick.

Frederick is not someone who will be easily forgotten. This is mainly because of her own knack to make no student of hers ever feel forgotten.

If you have ever had the privilege of being in one of Frederick’s math classes, you would know very well that it is not a class where you can slink into the shadows, unnoticed. 

Class often starts with Frederick asking any students who have a game, orchestra concert, big track meet, or any big event to stand up. 

Brightly, she cheers them on, wishing them luck and often letting them know that she will be up in the stands cheering them on. 

Or, she will proudly announce the birthday of someone in the class, followed by everyone merrily joining in with Frederick’s own Happy Birthday song: “Happy happy birthday, we’re so glad you came! Happy happy birthday from your Math 3 gang!”

Frederick’s unique ability to personally touch the lives of those she interacts with, extends beyond just her classes at Gibbons.

Previously working at a public school, Frederick has cherished the openness with faith that Gibbons offers and encourages, especially through the use of involvement with retreats and spiritual life. 

Maggie McCurdy, a Cardinal Gibbons graduate, gave insight on her experience with Frederick on her senior retreat, Kairos. 

“Her attentiveness to the needs of those around her, her sense of humor…her willingness to widen the circle so everyone feels like they have a place are just a few of the qualities I love best about my girl, Mrs. Frederick…[she] is like the mom of Cardinal Gibbons,” Maggie said. “Whether she’s your teacher or not, she will care for you and love you like her own.”

Frederick is a living and breathing example of the widely quoted Golden Rule: treat others how you want to be treated

“I remember what it’s like to have your feelings hurt…And so when I see someone in the hall or in the classroom I want to share my smile with them and make their day better instead of worse,” said Frederick.

Truly, she has succeeded. 

In a room of about 25 students, Frederick has the one-in-a-million ability to make every individual feel seen, known, and heard. All through the use of one phrase she holds close to her heart: make it a habit to be happy.