ASU Research E-Magazine: Gift Givers

A sense of future possibilities. A fragile hope that floats through a suddenly unlocked door. That is the gift ASU’s Math-Science Honors Program bestows on participants.

Students describe their pride at accomplishing the difficult courses, and their excitement at having improbable dreams brought within reach. Many participants have gone into teaching following graduation from ASU. They initiate a cycle of scholarship by passing on this promise to the next generation.

Tina Tsinigine and Patsy Thiergart are just two examples.

“I try to make math fun for my students. I want to make it important for them,” says Tsinigine, a 1992 ASU graduate. Tsinigine returned to teach high school mathematics in Tuba City, her hometown on the Navajo reservation. “I try to encourage my students, try to push them harder than I was pushed,” she says. “I want to be a good role model, to show them it’s possible to achieve by working hard.”

Tsinigine says she was hesitant to major in math. “I didn’t know if I could do it. I wasn’t an A student, and I needed a lot of help,” she recalls. “But Dr. Bustoz encouraged me. The other students in the program became my friends. We helped each other succeed.”

A soft-spoken woman, Tsinigine explains that Navajo students often don’t ask for help in class. She coaxes them gently out of their shyness. “I make them talk to me,” she says. “I tell them not to be afraid to ask questions.”

When students miss the bus and don’t show up for a day or two of class, Tsinigine knows it’s not always their fault.

“I see things differently than others, like alcoholism, for instance. Sometimes it’s part of your family life,” she says. “I’m more tolerant. I know a lot of what these students are going through. I can relate to them.”

Patsy Thiergart is another program alumnus. A 1993 ASU graduate, she decorates her mathematics classroom at Washington High School with multicultural posters. Sometimes she speaks to her students in Spanish, the language of her childhood.

“I tell my kids to do their best. There’s help out there for them, just like there was help for me,” Thiergart says. She earned scholarships to attend ASU after completing the Math-Science program. Her parents hadn’t wanted her to leave home, so she supported herself during her undergraduate years.

Thiergart remembers her amazement at seeing a program filled with so many motivated students of different races. She felt she could have the greatest impact on her community as a mathematics teacher.

“I know that there are very few minority mathematics teachers and scholars. I know that I am one of a select few,” she adds. “It makes me feel that I can make a difference for my people.”

Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix recently snapped up three 1994 ASU mathematics graduates who were Math-Science participants. The three—Eira Rodriguez, Kristie Harris, and Erica Gonzalez—all have their own messages for students on how to achieve success.

“Get yourself a role model,” Rodriguez says. “And I don’t mean Charles Barkley. The people in the mathematics department at ASU are my role models. Whenever I have a problem or need any advice, I know that I can count on them.”

Gonzalez’ message is straightforward and to the point. “I try not to give these kids a bunch of empty words,” she says. “If they want to succeed, I tell them they simply have to do the work.”

Harris worked as a tutor at ASU’s Institute for Strengthening Underrepresented Minority Students in Math and Science (SUMMS). The work showed her how it felt to motivate others and persuaded her to go into teaching.

“Dr. Bustoz instills in us the drive to go back and help our own communities,” Harris says. “It worked. I didn’t know I’d become a mathematics major, or a teacher. But I like showing students how they actually can make it.” She enjoys passing on the gift.—Sarah Auffret