Vivek Monteiro
MC’s new math teacher is not the average Joe- he is from Westview.
Cody Jenkins is not new to teaching at PUSD, but rather is very familiar with the community and administration. As a graduate of Poway High’s Class of 2000 and an assistant basketball coach to multiple PUSD schools, he is quite happy to be continuing his teaching career at MC.
Jenkins went to SDSU and received a degree in business.
“I became really involved in college athletics and dealt with media relations which was not really business, but it helped get my foot in the door. I then earned a Master in Business Administration with an emphasis in sports management,” Jenkins said.
He did not originally intend on becoming a teacher, however.
“On the side I began coaching at the high school level, and from coaching I gained an interest in teaching,” Jenkins said. “On the path I was originally going on, I would have stated as an assistant coach at a small college and work my way up to head coach and eventually would hope to be on the coaching staff of a Division 1 school.”
Due to his personal relationships and an exploration of other opportunities, Jenkins opted for a simpler lifestyle.
“It would have been a very nomadic life with not the best bay at first and I was just about to get married and I knew my wife would not have wanted me gone all the time,” Jenkins said.
He was able to keep himself content by becoming a teacher and high school basketball coach which allowed him to be at home while still keeping his passion of coaching basketball in the evenings.
As a teacher, Jenkins maintains a work-hard-play-hard ethic.
“I believe in keeping an easy going classroom that has some joking around while still focusing on real world applications of mathematics to motivate interest in the material being covered,” Jenkins said.
After about six years of teaching, Jenkins’s observations have lent him a helping hand.
“I have noticed that often times teachers who are brilliant at mathematics are unable to teach the material in a way that students new to the material can understand,” Jenkins said. “So I try to implement group work into my lessons so that students who understand can explain that material in a way the others can understand.”
Concerning his past at Westview, Jenkins considers each school in its own element.
“The environments in the two schools are very different. I found that at Westview, academics were the driving force of the student body while at Mt. Carmel, the students seem better-rounded with athletics and other activities, [and] still maintain academic standards.”
Jenkins will be teaching Intro to Algebra, Honors Precalculus, Geometry, College Algebra and Honors Algebra 4. He, like the MC students he has observed thus far, remains optimistic in combining academics with athletics.
“I hope to get involved with the MC basketball team coaching staff, as it is one of my true passions.”
