New math teacher Michael Kaufman previously taught at East Gaston High School in Gaston County, North Carolina, where a discipline issue once involved a raccoon.
“In the South, they do things a little differently,” Kaufman said. “I had to write up a kid for bringing a raccoon to school. We had a fire drill, and all the kids were crowding around the (student’s) truck, and sure enough there’s the raccoon.”
Kaufman, who got his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Duquesne, taught math for 10 years in Gaston. He remembers his time there fondly, despite his large workload.
“I was the head of the math department there. I was the curriculum leader for four of their curriculums, and I designed some of the curriculums that were used county-wide,” he said.
Kaufman works with his students and hopes to leave a lasting impression. In previous years, this has meant offering tutoring and giving recommendations for jobs, even after graduation.
“Once you’re my student, you’re always my student,” Kaufman said. “Whether I’m in North Carolina or Pennsylvania … you’d still be my student and I’d still try my best to help you out.”
Beyond being a teacher, he loves to cook in his free time.
“I come from a big family, so I tend to only have one volume of food that I know how to cook, and it’s a lot,” he said.
