St. Mary's Berry Named January Teacher of the Month

“Once their math teacher, forever their math teacher,” Tamara Berry explained when I asked about her connection to former math students. “Some of our graduates message me from college with math questions. They stay ‘my kids.’” This connection with students is why Tamara Berry of St. Mary High School was voted Teacher of the Month for January.

One reason why Berry chose math over teaching other subjects: “Math builds every year. We’re going to take what we did last year and add to it. No math pun intended!” Ask most students in high school if they like math and the answer is no. But in Mrs. Berry’s class, “they’ve learned to love math.” She hopes that her students remember that “its okay to make mistakes and it’s okay not to get something the first time. [Math] doesn’t have to be stressful. I try to relate with them as much as possible.”

Every student in the high school has math with “Mama Bear,” as some of her students call her. In fact, her daughters will eventually have her for math when they reach high school, but it’s unlikely they will call her Mrs. Berry, maybe Mrs. Mom.

The Teacher of the Month Award, sponsored by Scott Walker Construction, will continue through each month of the school year. All 10 Teachers of the Month from the 2022-2023 school year will be considered for the favorite teacher in the 2023 West Kentucky Star People’s Choice Awards.

You can nominate your favorite teacher for February by clicking here.

Pictured above: Chris Morgan of Scott Walker Construction presents the January Teacher of the Month Award to St. Mary High School Math Teacher Tamara Berry.