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Highland Lakes School

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Highland Lakes School
Home of the Bears!

About the Teacher

Mr. Ryan Verlei

Welcome!

My name is Ryan Verlei. This is my 10th year as an educator and my 4th year at Highland Lakes. I was born in Cleveland, Ohio. I moved out west at around 30 years old. I have lived in both Wyoming and Arizona. 

Teaching has been a second career for me and I quite enjoy working with children. I did not enjoy math as a child. My personal experience with math as a child has inspired me to help kids who struggle with math as I did. That's why I love teaching Math180! I found during college I had a knack for questioning and explaining math concepts to others. I became obsessed with going back and studying foundational concepts so I could better help children understand. My love of mathematics has transferred to my own sons. My eldest son has already completed two high school math courses at the tender age of 12, and he hopes to gain work in a STEM career so that he can use math daily in his job. 

I feel my strongest teaching ability is to form meaningful relationships with my students. I believe if students look forward to the time they spend with me, they are far more likely to succeed. I consider myself firm but caring, and I treat my students with the respect I would want from others. I believe math is important, but I believe it is far more important to teach children to be good people. We can always con