Lake Charles native Dina Pierson, 54, loves the complexities and logistics of mathematics.

“I have always been fascinated by math and how it all works together without contradiction,” she explained. “It’s always back by reason, and if there’s a ‘why,’ it is easier to remember.”

She loves to witness students work out a math concept in the classroom, or “discover some part of math that seemed so complicated, but once broken down into small steps and backed with reasoning becomes understandable and ‘cool.’”

She’s a 1987 graduate of LaGrange High School. As a student, she was “blessed” with role model teachers. 

“They knew how to make me want to succeed and to learn all that I could. Most of them truly cared about the subject they were teaching and made that evident in the classroom.”

It was these teachers’ influence (and her love for math) that put Pierson on the educator’s path.

She attended McNeese State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in math education. Over the next few years, she enrolled in more classes and taught at night as a graduate student and earned a Masters of Education in math education in 1994.

She is 34 years into her career. Aside from one semester as a middle school math teacher at Episcopal Day School, her whole career has been spent at Bell City High School. Over three decades, she has taught seventh-grade math, Algebra I, geometry and advanced math. She currently teaches Algebra II and III, and Math 113, Math 170, Math 175 and Statistics 231 dual enrollment courses.

She operates on the philosophy that a “good education for all students is crucial,” because education is the “backbone of communities.”

“Strong learners lead to problem solvers and strong workers, and these things together keep a community flourishing.”

“Good education” is defined by Pierson as one that is flexible to meet the needs of each individual student, and one that is supported by the collaboration of teachers, administrators, parents and students.

 

“I don’t know that that means the same type of education is for everyone, but all students should be learning something so that one day they are all productive, contrinbuting citizens,” she said. “It works best when everyone is rowing together with the same goal in mind.”

 

Pierson asked her students what the environment of her classroom is. The first response she got was “laid-back.”

 

“I hope that’s a good thing.”

 

She creates a classroom where students can approach math without the “overwhelming feeling of pressure and fear,” and with instead curiosity and wonder.

 

“Math can be very heavy, and many kids don’t like it or have bad experiences with it. My hope is to change that fear with learning,” she said. “I want them to be comfortable enough with it that they too see the beauty in it, and that if they don’t love doing math, at least they don’t hate it.”

 

Her students feel safe to make mistakes and ask for help (in or out of class), but are pushed to achieve beyond limits they originally thought possible.

 

“I would imagine that most students think my class is challenging and see me as tough, but I also hope they think of me as fair, only wanting what’s best for each of them. 

“I want them to learn because I care about them and what they will become long after they leave the halls of high school.”

These efforts pay off. She said her students describe their math classes as “family,” and former students ring her just to say “thanks.”

“At that moment you know you succeeded with at least one student, and everything become worth it.” 

Despite daily challenges and the occasional rough day, Pierson believes there is no career more rewarding than teaching. A teacher with an open heart that pours knowledge and kindness into students receive a “return on investment” that is “triple-fold.”

The 2024-25 school year is likely Pierson’s last year, she said.

“I often reflect on the career I chose. I was given the opportunity to teach some really great kids and to be a part of some of their formative years in what I hope was a good way,” she recalled. “And for that I am eternally grateful.