Caitlin O’Rourke

Wilde smiles for a photo in her new classroom

Laura Wilde is a new math teacher at WA. She strives to always greet her students with a smile and a friendly attitude, making sure that they feel valued and cared for. Wilde previously taught math at Lowell Catholic School, and she currently teaches five Algebra II CP classes. In her free time, Wilde enjoys reading and giving interesting book recommendations to others.

Q: How many years have you been teaching?

A: This is my fourth year teaching, and I taught at Lowell Catholic for two years before I decided to come here.

Q: What are some goals that you have for this year?

A: I want to make personal connections with my students and fellow math teachers.

Q: Are there any teachers that have been mentoring you, and if so, how have they helped you?

A: The entire math department has been absolutely amazing. They are so supportive. By sharing resources and sharing tips, they have helped me. It’s been amazing.

Q: Was there any reason that you chose to come to Westford Academy? 

A: I’ve heard really good things. There’s a family I’m close to in my church who live here and they rave about it.

Q: What is your favorite thing about this school?

A: The students. I really enjoy being with my students and everyone here is so kind.

Q: Is there any reason that you decided to teach math?

A: I picked math because I was not good at math when I was in high school and I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t like how it was presented. I never had math teachers that were actually happy to be there. But I had history teachers who are awesome, and they could get me to care about things that I never cared about for my life. I thought, “why don’t I have any math teachers that do this?” And then, when I got to pre-calculus I was forced into a situation where I had to self study, and I was making connections, and I was putting things together. I want my students to have that.

Q: Are there any differences between Westford Academy and the school you taught at before?

A: In this school, academics are definitely taken so much more seriously, which I think is very important. This is your only opportunity to be fully occupied and have school as your full time job, which I really like.

Q: Why do you care so deeply about your students and trying to help them? 

A: You can solve a problem in so many different ways, and get the same answer and employ different tricks. I wanted to be the one that was happy about doing math and excited about it as a student, but my teacher didn’t care. I felt like maybe because I struggled a lot when I was a student, I now have a bit of empathy.