Sixth-grade math teacher Tylar Gotreaux, 26, strives to make math fun and accessible for her students.

She was born and raised in Longville and was schooled in the Beauregard Parish School system. She and math have a deep history. Gotreaux has loved the subject since she was a student herself. For her, the subject is a brain-stimulating challenge.

“I would think about every math problem like a puzzle that was begging to be solved.”

While her love and affinity for math is innate, she believes her education deepened her appreciation for the subject. Her teachers guided and inspired her to follow the vocation of education.

She tutored while she was in school to help her peers, which solidified this decision.

“Math came easy to me growing up, but that is not the case for many people. Many of them liked the way I explained the math concepts in different ways,” she recalled. “Through tutoring and observing all the wonderful teachers in my life, I fell in love with teaching.”

She graduated from South Beauregard High School and then attended McNeese State University to earn her Bachelor of Science in mathematics education.

She has worked for six years in Beauregard Parish. Her first year was spent at Merryville High School, where she taught Algebra II, geometry, advanced math and calculus for freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. While at Merryville, she also sponsored the Jazz Cats dance team.

Gotreaux returned to her “home away from home” in 2020 to teach at Beauregard Upper Elementary School, where she currently teaches sixth-grade mathematics. She also sponsors the yearbook club, and in her spare time helps with the drama club.

Her favorite moments are when she “sees that lightbulb when a concept finally clicks.”

To make math more exciting, she engages students with interactive lessons, fun activities and cooperative games. Because of math’s infamous reputation, making lessons enjoyable is a necessary step, she said.

“Due to many students’ animosity towards math, I try my best to make math as fun as possible.”

She also prioritizes building strong connections with each and every student.

“For me, building relationships with students set the foundation for a safe and constructive learning environment.”

This is because she lives by the words of American author and orator John Maxwell: “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” By weaving small acts of kindness into each day, she cares for her students.

“Whether it’s writing birthday cards for each students or simply smiling each morning, I always put my students’ well-being first,” Gotreaux said.

This commitment to kindness creates a space is “inclusive” and “supportive.”

“I want all my students to know that they are loved and have a place in my classroom.”

It is Gotreaux’s hope that her peers, even in stressful times, not forget their mission.

“Though I have many more years to experience before I consider myself an ‘expert’ on teaching, I hope that future educators as well as current educators remember that you make a huge impact on a student’s life.

“We are shaping our future society one day and one student at a time.”