Beaver Local’s Mathematician

Beaver Local’s Mathematician

Mr. David W. Andres is one of the most loved teachers in Beaver Local. Mr. Andres has been a Math teacher for 24 years. He believes that the purpose of learning math is so that you can use it in your everyday life. From jumping out of airplanes to photography to woodworking, Dave finds a way to bring mathematics to life in these activities.

When Dave is not building beds or photographing weddings, he is jumping out of airplanes. I asked, “So when was the first time you went skydiving?” Dave answered, “I was 38 years old the first time I went. My instructor told me that I will either love it or hate it. And that’s when I fell in love with it.” After he told me that, I had to ask him how he was feeling as he was jumping out of that plane. He told me that he was pretty nervous the first time he went. After the first time he went he said that it was amazing and that he didn’t want to let go of the wing of the plane.

Mr. Andres also took an interest in photography. He started photography in 7th grade. Dave knew that photography was related to math so that’s why he liked taking pictures so much. After talking to him about taking pictures, he told me that he has his own business where he photographs weddings. I asked him if he was still in the business and he told me that he took this past year off but he is going to start the business back up in the upcoming summer.

If you’re ever looking for Dave and he’s not at the school, he’s probably in his woodshop. I asked Dave “Why do you like woodworking so much?” He answered “ It’s one of my favorite hobbies. When I’m not at school, I’m usually in my woodshop making new things.” He showed me pictures of his woodshop and it was filled with tools. When I asked him how many he had, he said that he owns over 500 tools in his shop. He said all of his tools probably cost him over 20 thousand dollars.

With all the activities Dave does in his life, math has always been the focal point. Teaching math for 24 years has not been enough for him. He wants to show everyone that you can use math in all sorts of ways. Dave said that math is his life. Whether it’s skydiving, photography, or woodworking, he said that it all leads back to what he loves the most, math.