From college library tutor to first-time math teacher, Alexander Dade is beginning the 2024-25 school year at Palo Alto High School with an Expo-marker in hand and equations filling the board.
Dade steps into the Paly math community teaching Geometry and Analysis Honors. According to Dade, he wants to create a strong learning environment for his students as he navigates the school year his first year as a teacher.
“Everyone always says that the first year of teaching is the hardest year but I want to get through while also making students feel like they’re in a class that is taught by someone who’s a veteran,” Dade said during an interview with The Paly Voice. “I want somewhere they can feel safe and like they’re really learning, but also explore math and embrace some of my new ideas.”
Dade said he always had a passion for math, but his path to teaching became clear in college when he worked as a library tutor.
“I have always enjoyed math growing up but I wasn’t quite sure if I would ever do anything with it,” Dade said. “When COVID hit in 2020 and we all went home, I realized after a few weeks that I missed my students at my job more than I actually missed my own classes.”
According to Dade, his decision to become a teacher was influenced by his family and his experiences during college.
“Teaching was already on my mind since I have a long family legacy of teachers so it just made sense,” Dade said. “I decided to switch my major to Mathematics for Teaching and then pursue a master’s in education.”
Having grown up in northern Seattle, Dade moved to California when he was 12 and received his masters at Stanford University. According to Dade, he appreciates the rich experiences he gained in different colleges.
“Before that, I studied mathematics at UCLA, and in my final year switched majors to mathematics for teaching,” Dade said. “My first college experience – and arguably most important – was at Saddleback College, the community college across the street from my high school. Saddleback was an amazing opportunity to turn my academic trajectory around after high school, and I’m beyond grateful for the friends and opportunities I found there.”
Dade said he is particularly interested in teaching calculus and probability, subjects he said bring math to life.
“While calculus is very hard, it makes everything make sense,” Dade said. “All the math you’ve spent your life doing comes together in this beautiful way. Probability is also really fun because it has a real-world application and it’s so much harder than you would ever think. It’s really fascinating just the level of sheer mathematics you sometimes need to use to tackle complex probability problems.”
According to Math Instructional Leader Natalie Docktor, Dade’s strong background made him stand out.
“We know that Stanford offers a fabulous program, and he was one of their strongest mathematicians in the program that year,” Docktor said. “He came with a really good reputation and we were excited that he could handle an honors course right off the bat.”
Dade said before his job interview, he checked out Paly’s website and found himself captivated by the diverse activities. What started as a quick skim turned into an hour and a half of scrolling.
“I was like, ‘Look at all these math classes they offer, there’s nine student publications, they have a million sports and glass blowing,’” Dade said. “It was this rabbit hole where I was almost late [to the interview] because I was spending so much time looking at the website in awe of all that the school has to offer.”
Junior River Wu said Dade has a personalized teaching style and a dedication to connecting with the students.
“He makes an effort to talk to students and their interests since he shares some of them too,” Wu said. “It sometimes feels more like casual tutoring.”
Dade said he is excited to see students discover their passions and engage with the wide range of opportunities at Paly.
“As someone that really likes to see students be able to pursue their passions beyond math, as well as a teacher where I have a lot of passions, being able to share that with students at a school like Paly felt like a right fit,” Dade said. “It felt like the right place for me to start.”
