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So when many Aquinas High School students go off to college, they are thankful they had Denise Ring for a teacher. She helped them understand the rules and complexities of mathematics and made it fun.
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Ring is a beloved teacher of 18 years at Aquinas because she engages the students and encourages teamwork and original thinking. She teaches pre-calculus, AP calculus, personal finance and a computer class.
“I like kids discovering things, and I don’t always want to tell them the answer,” Ring said.
Jacob Inda, an Aquinas graduate who now studies at the University of Minnesota, said Ring makes college-level AP calculus easier and prepares students well for the AP test.
Inda and other students talk about her laminated copies of calculus review and her extra study sessions before the AP test.
Besides being an outstanding teacher, Inda said, Ring is a great role model.
“Mrs. Ring is an all-round great person who has great conviction for what she does and deserves recognition for inspiring my interest in mathematics and its many applications in the sciences,” he said.
Ring was recently named one of eight recipients of the University of Minnesota 2008 outstanding science teacher award. Inda nominated her for the award.
Her teaching style is low key and laid-back, but she expects hard work and respect and creates an atmosphere of fun challenges and problem-solving.
“I don’t believe in scaring or intimidating my students,” she said. “I don’t scream, and I let some things go. I want this element of joy in my classroom.”
A Reedsburg, Wis., native, Ring was in some ways destined to be a math teacher. Her father, Bob Tourdot, was a math teacher at the public high school in her hometown. Her three sisters majored in math.
Ring started out as a business major at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, but switched to math education. “I felt math was a good fit for me,” she said.
After graduation in 1989, Ring taught one year in Prairie du Chien before taking a job at Aquinas.
“I chose Aquinas because of the benefits of a Catholic education,” Ring said. “It’s in your heart. I just wanted to give back and be a part of something different.”
In 2006, Ring was honored by Yale University as one of the best science/math teachers. She was nominated by Hayley Born, who took the first AP calculus class taught by Ring.
“The cool thing is these students felt I made a difference,” Ring said. “Coming from my students, it means a lot.”
Born, who attends Yale, said Ring approached the class with positive energy and excitement. Ring scheduled weekend review sessions and on test day catered breakfast for her students.
But more than that, Born said Ring tutored her in calculus and other classes when she went through two years of chemotherapy for lymphoma.
“Mrs. Ring was adamant that my health was more important than any calculus theorem,” Born said.
Ring has helped other students through difficult times and displays the highest ethical standards, Born said. “She never expects more from others than she expects from herself,” Born said. “She is the perfect example of what a true educator should be.”
Ring said some of her students have studied engineering and medicine in college, and some have become math majors.
Cory Vegel, a senior, said Ring allows students to constantly ask questions. “She’s easy to talk to, and she helps you no matter what’s going on,” Vegel said.
Stephanie Hagan, another senior, said Ring explains difficult concepts in detail so she can better understand them. “She tries to make it clear,” Hagan said.
Ring and her husband, David, have two children, Mariah, an Aquinas High School freshman, and Scott, a seventh-grader at Aquinas Middle School.
She continues to take classes and is enrolled in the education leadership program at Viterbo University. That allows her the option of some day becoming a principal or curriculum director.
“The litmus test for teaching is when it’s not fun anymore, I’ll do something else,” Ring said. “But I’m still having fun, and the kids still crack me up.”
