Christina Gaines

Great Team Player

According to Kirk Cannon, Principal at Adams-Young Middle School, “Christina Gains is an outstanding math teacher that students love to learn from. She is a great team player who displays a passion for teaching on a day-to-day basis.”

What’s your best memory of your own school days?

One of the best memories of school was being in Ms. Short’s Social Studies classroom in 10^th grade.  She was the most down to earth teacher I ever had.  She viewed us not just as students but as people.  She really tried to connect with us and allowed us to be who we were.  She was the most non-judgmental person I had ever met. Our assignments were always engaging and fun.  She also let us share our thoughts and work together.  She never made you feel like you did not belong no matter how different you may seem.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

Most people do not know that I am a vegetarian.  I have been a vegetarian for about 6 years now.  I needed to get healthy and change my lifestyle so I started with my eating habits.  Learning delicious vegetarian recipes took a while and I am still learning but I would never go back.  My health has improved drastically and I want to continue to progress.

What’s your professional superpower?

My professional superpower is meeting people where they are.  Helping students learn about themselves and helping them grow into better thinkers and researchers has always been a passion of mine.  Helping students become self-aware and recognize what types of improvements they need to make to develop their growth mindset has always been what I enjoy most about teaching.

How do you empower your students to live their complete life?

I empower my students to live a complete life by cultivating Length into their lives. Length is to live for a purpose born. Students need to be able to create goals and be consistent to those goals in order to see positive outcomes for themselves.  They need to know how understanding your strengths and weaknesses can help you build a better you.  I try to model that daily so students understand that success happens for those who are able to be creative problem-solvers and are open to shifts and changes when necessary.

What’s the one word your students would use to describe you?

Passionate!