Telithia Russ
Norman North High School
Ms. Russ moved to Norman in 2021 making this her fourth year at Norman North High School. A math teacher, Ms. Russ teaches freshman Algebra I and freshman Algebra 2.
“As a student math always came easy to me. I rarely had to struggle in math classes and always earned an A. In college I had a friend that took a very basic math course four times and still could not pass. It was at this point that I realized math did come easy to most people,” said Russ.
While her path to becoming an educator my not have followed traditional routes, Ms. Russ made the journey her own and found a way to make it happen after some encouragement from her Bishop and a friend.
“ ”“My Bishop out of the blue said, “I think you should be a teacher”. A friend was visiting and out of the blue she told me “I think you should be a teacher”. Identical wording that the Bishop had used about a year prior. This caused me to think and to pray and I felt that God wanted me to be a teacher. I wanted to teach math in high school, was not interested in teaching elementary school. I enrolled at Rogers State University, I had to take a few courses that did not transfer. After completing the associates degree in elementary education, I was then transferred to the Cameron University group that met on the Rogers State University. I graduated in May 2015 and started teaching in August 2015,” said Russ.
Her career started at Bartlesville High School in 2015.
“I taught Algebra 1 for four years and Geometry for two years. We moved to Norman in 2021 where I have taught Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 for three years, going on four,” said Russ.
Finding enjoyment in the job is easy for Ms. Russ.
“I love interacting with the students. I love the relationships I build with them. I love seeing them grow and become amazing people. I love sharing my love of mathematics with them. I love it when they come back to me after being in my class to say hi or to ask for help because they have a relationship with me. I love hearing them tell me that I was their favorite math teacher,” said Russ.
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