Centennial teacher motivated by students’ ‘light bulb’ moments
It’s that “light bulb” moment that Centennial High School math teacher Carminda Ranches lives for.
The 44-year-old, who hails from Boston — yes, she’s rooting for the Patriots in the Super Bowl — and California’s Bay Area, had her own such moment as a high school sophomore.
That’s when she first knew she wanted to be a teacher, Ranches said. The irony was that she thought she wanted to be an English teacher.
She later realized that when it came to switching on that light bulb for her students — that moment when they understand what she was trying to explain — it happened far more frequently in math class than in English. “It’s way easier to see that in math,” said Ranches, who mostly teaches tough mathematics classes such as precalculus and statistics as her students prepare for college.
Ranches, who has been a stalwart figure at Centennial since the northwest valley school opened in 1999, recently was named Clark County’s Educator of the Month for December.
The program, sponsored by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Sierra Nevada College, chose Ranches from nominations submitted at reviewjournal.com under a link for “Contests and Promotions.” A panel that includes members of the Clark County School Board, the Public Education Foundation and Teach for America chooses the monthly winner.
Centennial Principal Trent Day said Ranches has a calm, laid-back demeanor that makes her approachable. “The kids feel they can come to her for help,” Day said of the classroom veteran. “And she always makes herself available.”
Ranches gives her students extra one-on-one time before or after school. “She’s very dedicated to the kids,” Day said.
But Ranches doesn’t just teach the kids who are succeeding academically, Day said.
She is also an instructor in a program aimed at school youth with social and emotional problems, the principal said.
Despite her laid-back manner, Day said, Ranches is a tough teacher who maintains rigor in her classrooms without sacrificing her ability to work with kids.
Ranches, who also helps keep statistical data for the Centennial Bulldogs girls basketball team, considers herself lucky to have known her calling early on and to have math be her passion.
“I’m lucky I’m good at it,” she said, noting that her favorite moments are when kids say that they no longer hate math.
Recently she received a Christmas card from a student that read: “All last year I resented math, and this year I don’t. And that’s because you’re a great teacher.”
Ranches also recently learned that one of her former students is now a math teacher in Utah because of her influence.
But the world has changed dramatically since she began teaching nearly two decades ago.
The students have so many more outside distractions, including social media, “than I ever had to deal with,” Ranches said.
“It affects all that they are taking in,” Ranches said. Whether it’s parents getting divorced or having a father in jail, “It’s more than I feel like was happening 19 years ago.”
Ranches also wishes that those who govern would have a more realistic sense of what it’s like to be in the classroom before handing down unrealistic directives that don’t translate well to students or even their parents.
“When parents don’t understand the math we are asking the students to do, that needs to be fixed,” Ranches said.
Ranches, who taught middle school for four years before going to Centennial, said she doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
“I love teaching. I’m pretty happy coming to work every day. I’m not counting the days until retirement. And I think the kids know that, and that’s why they like coming to my class,” she said.
Contact Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe
