A career teaching math just adds up for Ron Banwart.
The Fort Dodge man recently retired from his teaching position at Senior High and will begin teaching part time at St. Edmond High School this fall. While it may be a new classroom, the subject matter will be familiar. Banwart will again lead the students in the exploration of precalculus, calculus and trigonometry.
''I've always had an interest in science and math,'' he said. ''I thought I'd be an engineer, an aerospace engineer.''
Set on that path, Banwart attended Morningside College in Sioux City two years before completing his undergraduate degree at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo. He then went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., for his graduate work.
At some point in his studies, the end goal changed and the West Bend native found himself in education.
''I really don't know why I made the choice,'' Banwart said. ''Maybe it was the way I was brought up, with more of a service attitude. I say the Lord shoved me into it.''
His wife, Carolyn, didn't need the spiritual guidance. She said she always wanted to be a teacher. Originally a Spanish teacher, she taught third grade for three years, kindergarten for 15 years and now is a reading teacher at Butler Elementary.
''People I see who are successful are the ones with a passion for it,'' she said. ''They're the ones who want to help kids have a better life.''
Ron Banwart agreed.
''It has to be a passion,'' he said. ''If you don't have a passion for it, you're not going to enjoy the classroom. Teaching is not a career, it's not a job. It's a vocation, and if you feel it's a vocation the Lord has called you to, great. You are going to touch hundreds and hundreds of lives.''
But be forewarned, he said. Teachers and the education system are often the chosen fall guys for greater problems in society. Educators become responsible for fixing those problems, but Banwart said that's an impossible task since the school is only a part of the overall society.
Banwart started teaching math and science in 1966 in a small school in southwestern Iowa. He made the move to Senior High in 1972 and took a position teaching advanced chemistry, chemistry and physics. As technology advanced, he said he found himself teaching computer science and programming. Ultimately, he moved into the math department.
''I always say I was 'promoted' into the math department,'' he said. ''It's where my strength and interest truly lies.''
In the last few years, technology has opened up the way math is taught, Banwart said. It's more than memorizing rules and formulas. It's exploration.
''A lot more discovery type of learning is going on,'' he said. ''I think we will continue to see more of a hands-on approach where students work in a group and they have to communicate what they've learned. Students will have to demonstrate an understanding of the concepts rather than just manipulation of them.''
Having a firm grasp on those concepts is important, Banwart said, even if students don't plan a career in mathematics or statistics.
''You need to have an understanding for your own personal finances,'' he said. ''You need to be able to make sense of the greater economy and sort out what really is important and what is being presented in a biased way. It all requires mathematical thinking, whether dealing with numbers or concepts.''
Of course, Banwart didn't spend all his time in the classroom. He coached junior high basketball and track before serving as an assistant coach at Senior High for girls basketball and softball. He also worked for 27 years with the students who were members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
He and his wife have three children, Eric, a computer engineer in the Washington, D.C., area, Jody, a math teacher in Ottumwa, and Alex, who attends Senior High.
Contact Dawn Thompson at (515) 573-2141 or dthompson@messengernews.net
