Michele Jordan’s heart was always in education.

“I always wanted to be a teacher,” she says. “I don’t ever remember wanting to be anything else. It’s always been my goal.”

But this Fairhope Middle School eighth grade math teacher didn’t always see herself as a middle school teacher.

Jordan’s degree began in elementary education.

“It was my last semester before I started student teaching,” she says. “I had to observe a middle school classroom and a friend of mine was the supervisor in our Parish. She said to come see her and she did a really neat lesson on the Pythagorean Theorem.”

It was then Jordan realized why this math formula was the way it was and where her passion truly lied.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s why a² + b² = c²!’” Jordan says, laughing. “I always knew the formula, but not why. I went that day to change my direction in school.”

Jordan says her goal now as a teacher is to give her students the “whys,” not just the “hows.”

This is how Jordan’s famous downtown Fairhope scavenger hunt began.

“This is my most memorable moment in my classroom, but it happens every year,” Jordan says. “The kids are solving these math problems all day long. I see them at lunch and they’re all still solving math problems even though it’s their break. They’re excited about it. They say it’s the best field trip they’ve been on even though it’s math.”

The groups of students each get a binder and mini iPad for their search downtown. The scavenger hunt covers every standard Jordan teaches.

“I have them find dates of deaths in the cemetery and we plot the dates,” she says, “that’s scatter plots. They compare pizza prices of the pizza places in town, use coordinates to find a location from a grid of the city Jordan made and they survey people downtown about ice cream flavors — for example — and learn probability. All problems are worth a certain amount of points and the winning teams win money.

“I am very thankful to the sponsoring businesses, FEEF, PTC and the parents of the children,” Jordan says.

It’s Jordan’s 11th year teaching and she’s still at her first job, Fairhope Middle School.

Jordan’s favorite part about teaching is her children.

“I love the kids, the light bulbs,” she says, “the one time they think or say ‘this is fun.’”

TEACHER: Michele Jordan

SCHOOL: Fairhope Middle School

SUBJECTS TAUGHT: Eighth grade math

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