Alumnus Honored as Top High School Math Teacher in Nation
Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy alumnus Richard Agin (JD88, MS09) was one of 20 teachers in the nation–and the only one in Illinois–selected for a national education prize from the Mathematical Association of America American Mathematics Competitions (MAA AMC).
Agin, a math teacher and co-head coach of the math team at Evanston Township High School, won the Edyth May Sliffe Award, which honors middle and high school math teachers for motivating students in math and supporting them in competitions.
Sliffe winners each receive $500 and free registration, housing, and travel expenses to MAA MathFest in Sacramento, Aug. 4-7, 2021.
Agin also partners with a professor from Northwestern University's math department to co-teach the Advanced Topics in Mathematics Course at Evanston Township High School. This course is available for students who have completed math courses through Multivariable Calculus.
Agin was drawn to the power and beauty of math as a teenager at the University of Chicago Laboratory High School. There, he took math classes at the University of Chicago, competed in national contests, and attended summer math camps. As a high school senior, he competed in the International Mathematical Olympiad as a member of the USA Team.
The competitions help develop analytical problem-solving skills and give students interesting and challenging experiences with math that they might not otherwise see in school, he says. They also “provide great opportunities for collaborative learning, meeting new people, and making new friends.”
Agin studied math and economics at Princeton University. He received a master’s in political science at the University of Michigan and a law degree at Northwestern. Then, after working in Chicago for 17 years in commercial litigation, he was ready for a change – and he returned to his love for numbers.
He received his master’s in education from the School of Education and Social Policy and completed his student teaching at Evanston Township High School, where he has worked ever since.
“The support for student teachers in the MSED program was outstanding,” he said. “The coursework helped to prepare me for the challenges of teaching, and I enjoyed working with great classmates -- who didn’t seem to care that I was 15 or 20 years older than they were.”
In his classes, Agin says it's important to personally connect with students and create a fun, collaborative learning environment, something that has grown more difficult since teaching has gone remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To compensate, he's more selective with material and flexible with assignments, assessments, and deadlines. He also meets with students individually or in small groups as often as possible via Zoom.
Agin is a former coach for the Chicago All-Stars American Regions Math League and past president of the North Suburban Mathematics League. He was previously selected for the Joseph B. Whitehead Educator of Distinction Award from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation (2017), and the Outstanding Educator/Certificate of Recognition from the University of Chicago (2013).
“I am thankful to be teaching math and STEM skills that are so critically important in today’s world,” he said. “And also thankful for all of my tremendous students and colleagues at Evanston Township High School and around the Chicago area.”