Who Inspired You?

For many MIT students, a high school teacher changed their lives. Sometimes it was the enthusiasm and insight the teacher offered, sometimes the teacher boosted their ambition and self esteem. The MIT Inspirational Teacher Award recognizes outstanding secondary school teachers who changed the lives of today’s MIT students. Here are stories about two of this year’s 33 winners.

Ben Chun ’00, a computer science teacher in a San Francisco public high school, was a pivotal teacher for Jenny Cheng ’11. Chun’s gift to Cheng did not occur in California, though, but in Jerusalem, as part of Middle East Education Through Technology (MEET), a program founded at MIT to use technology to create a common language between Israeli and Palestinian high school students.

Before becoming a teacher, Chun, a CSEE major like Cheng, worked at Simple Star as a programmer prior to their acquisition by Roxio. As a volunteer, he helped the MIT students succeed as MEET instructors—often their first teaching experiences.

“During MEET, one night, I was extremely stressed about the lab the kids were going to do the next day,” Cheng wrote in the nomination. “I consulted Mr. Chun on how to guide the kids to arrive at their own answers. Mr. Chun took one of my computer science questions and asked, ‘So how would you implement this?’ I answered with a rough idea of how to accomplish this. Mr. Chun listened and asked some questions about testing for edge cases. After I gave a full answer, Mr. Chun said 'See, you don't have to know everything; you have to know how to guide them.' I was astonished at the way he made me derive an answer. From this, I learned ways to prompt the kids."

Economics major Ruben Alonzo '11 nominated his math teacher, Irma Martinez, who is now principal of Benito Juarez Elementary School in Crystal City, TX.

“I can honestly say that I would not be at MIT if it were not for Ms. Martinez,” wrote Alonzo in the nomination. “After my father passed away and my brother was sent to prison, my future looked bleak…. Drugs were always a large part of my childhood experiences. Overdoses were common and so were prison sentences among family members… Ms. Martinez soon served as my role model and mentor… Ms. Martinez helped me realize my potential and strong gift in mathematics.”