After working as a part-time substitute for math teacher Susan Giatti for six months, Amir Ghavam has been asked to return to Clark as a full-time math teacher. Ghavam has taught at a variety of high schools and universities, including Cal State LA and St. Francis High. “I began teaching over 30 years ago and when I wasn’t teaching in the classroom, I would sometimes tutor in the evenings,” Ghavam said.

Prior to teaching at Clark, Ghavam worked for Boeing Aerospace as an engineer. He worked for the space shuttle program with Boeing for 20 years. “I loved working on the space program because I worked with rockets and things like that,” Ghavam said. “I really enjoyed meeting the astronauts because they were such cordial and down to earth people, no pun intended.”

Ghavam said that he takes pride in his ability to connect with his students. He says that, through years of teaching, he has focused more on teaching students rather than teaching math. After his many years of teaching young people, he states that he has taught himself to listen to his students, even when they’re not talking. “I need to be able to read where they’re at and whether they’re getting the lesson,” Ghavam said.

Ghavam says that he wants to make the classroom and his lessons more enjoyable. He enjoys his teaching and likes to interact with his students. He describes the experience as “something where I like to have fun, I like to make fun of myself because I don’t want my students to suffer through math, suffering is optional.”