‘I live for the lightbulb moment’ — Award-finalist teacher emphasizes real-world math and the opportunities behind mistakes

PRIEST RIVER — Priest River Lamanna High School math teacher Nicole Anderson has a technique to combat “math anxiety” — the sense of dread students feel when they come face-to-face with a number problem that seems overwhelming. 

Her strategy is simple — show them that messing up isn’t the end of the world, but rather a step toward understanding.  

“Sometimes, I’ll intentionally make a mistake,” Anderson said. “Mistakes are where we actually learn.” 

In March, The Idaho Department of Education announced that Anderson was among the state’s six finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching — the country’s most prestigious honors for K-12 STEM educators.

If selected as a full awardee, Anderson, who is in her second year as a geometry, algebra and pre-calculus teacher at PRLHS, will receive a certificate signed by President Donald Trump, a trip to Washington D.C. and a $10,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. 

Anderson is a graduate of Sandpoint High School, where her passion for teaching first shined during study sessions with peers. 

“When I was doing homework with my friends in high school, I really liked when I explained something, and they went, ‘Oh, I get that now,’” Anderson said. 

That led her to pursue an education at the University of Idaho and launch her career as a high school teacher in Nampa School District. 

During college, Anderson studied both math and language arts, and as a student teacher, she spent time preparing to teach both subjects. While she eventually found her calling as a math teacher, Anderson continues to recognize the importance of language; she has a practice of often requiring students to explain their answers using complete sentences, which she said is designed to help them communicate “clearly and succinctly” once they’re in the workforce, regardless of their career.

The effort to teach students practical skills for post-school life is a driving force in Anderson’s classroom. When teaching a new geometry concept, Anderson often starts students off with a theoretical shape that has easy-to-work-with side lengths and angles before bringing physical objects like umbrellas and ice cream cones into the classroom with dimensions that “aren't going to be pretty” to test students’ ability to make accurate measurements and perform calculations using “messy” numbers. 

To continuously improve her instruction, Anderson reads research material and attends professional development events highlighting techniques to better help students grasp concepts. Anderson is also the only Panhandle teacher involved in math badging, a startup initiative designed to engage high school juniors and seniors in rigorous learning opportunities. 

Despite Anderson’s continuous examination of the latest pedagogy, she recognizes that the most effective educator is the one who meets students where they are and cares for their mental and emotional wellbeing. 

“There’s the science of teaching, which is all the data,” she said. “But then there's the art of living in the moment with your kids, and asking, ‘What does your heart tell you that's needed right now?’” 

Anderson said she sometimes shifts deadlines to ensure students have time to properly absorb what they learn and spends lunch periods with students who are having trouble in class or have fallen behind. 

After she discovered she was a PAEMST finalist, Anderson read a recommendation letter submitted with her application, in which a former student who had struggled in her class detailed how Anderson worked to explain concepts to him until he understood them, no matter long it took. 

“That touched my heart,” Anderson said. “I live for the lightbulb moment.” 

With Idaho’s six PAEMST finalists in place, a national committee will review candidates across the country and recommend two teachers from each state to receive the full award.

There is no definitive timeline for the final selection process.