Known for her honesty and kindness, Coppell High School math teacher Michelle Bellish has been named Teacher of the Issue by The Sidekick staff. She never fails to help her students succeed by constantly being involved in creating an engaging learning environment.

Why did you first want to be a math teacher?

I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to make a difference. I was not the best student so when I finally turned things around, I remembered the teacher that reached out to me. I decided to be a math teacher because I was fortunate that math was easy to me, [so that] helped me decide which teaching path to take.

How do you connect with your students?

I try to talk to them and always be genuine. I’m usually accused of being honest, almost blunt and straight to the point. But I think the students realize that I do care, and that I do tell the truth. They can see through my actions that I want to help. I’m constantly walking around checking on them, clarifying anything confusing and not putting anyone on the spot when asking them questions in class. In my opinion, working like this makes them reach inside and find out what they’ve learned as opposed to me teaching them and them just giving it right back to me.

Do you have any fun facts about yourself?

I’ve been married for 37 years, and I’ve got two boys and three grandchildren. I also teach AQR, which is Advanced Quantitative Reasoning. We do things pretty differently in AQR because it’s really just a lot of problem-solving.