Despite the haunting myths of vampires and their ruler, Dracula, a fictional figure of the small south-eastern country of Romania, Paly’s new Pre-Calculus teacher, Alina Predescu, from Bucharest, Romania, prefers to give her students long lists of math problems than a bite in the neck.

Predescu’s said her largest goal is to get to know the students here at Paly.

“I hope to get students to love math and I want them to know that I’m here to help,” said Predescu, adding that she also hopes her Romanian accent won’t get in the way of this goal.

Besides getting to know her students, Predescu also likes to take care of her two kids, ages 12 and 6, and keep in touch with her Romanian relatives.

After moving from Bucharest, Romania, to America in 1997, Predescu underwent a Single Subject Credential Program at San Jose State University and later worked as a Pre-Calculus and Geometry teacher at Homestead High School in Cupertino.

Now she is working at Paly full time and has been enjoying it so far.

“Paly is interesting and challenging,” Predescu said. “I think students are wonderful. Here they want to learn and that is why I came here.”

Predescu also enjoys the Paly campus and its close proximity to Stanford.She is happy to be teaching in a town that she finds progressive and interesting.