Mrs. Mary Jo Davis

For Mrs. Mary Jo Davis, there’s not enough time in the day to spend learning about math and how to teach it. The instructor’s continuous search for new ways to teach math coheres with her staunch belief in lifelong learning. For her personal finance class, Mrs. Davis asks her students to read a nonfiction book alongside their other homework. To illustrate why she does this, she cites Dave Ramsey, who “says that millionaires read a nonfiction book a month,” and she insists that “nonfiction books are key to getting yourself thinking and changing your mind,” in order to broaden and expand it. Mrs. Davis’s favorite part of teaching is sharing her “enthusiasm for the beauty of mathematics” and witnessing her students make connections for the first time.

Mr. Cory Landrum

Mr. Cory Landrum began teaching Latin at FGR in 2019, and it was the school’s Catholic nature and mission that originally drew him. He always wanted to serve God through education, and he recounts that, “when the opportunity came up, I jumped at it. This is pretty much a dream job for me.” Mr. Landrum knew from a young age that he wanted to teach, and he credits his grade school teachers for showing him the mission of a good instructor. The Latin teacher believes that “language is a pathway to understanding and accessing another culture’s worldview.” His love for Latin is tied to a desire to understand other cultures and ideas, and in particular, early Christian theology and philosophy. For this reason, Mr. Landrum’s favorite lesson plans interweave philosophy with the Latin the high schoolers learn. Incorporating philosophy in Latin class also helps students “to think critically not only about their faith in the context of reason, but also the world at large.”