Samuel Che-Casales
September 6, 2022
New STEM teacher at AHS, Mr. Samuel Che, is quite the character. Alumni of Texas Culinary Academy, Emmanuel College, UTHSC, and Ole Miss, Mr. Che is a man with very diverse knowledge. Previous to coming to Arlington High, he taught at Byhaila High School. He also worked in health sciences before he became a teacher. Mr. Che was constantly educating people about their diseases and he felt that was the most impactful thing he could do for them. That’s what caused him to start teaching. His favorite part of being a teacher is “Awakening people’s curiosity. Really and truly.”
There are two great sources for innovation. One of them is curiosity. The other one is actually laziness. Not abject laziness, but finding a better way of doing things. — Samuel Che
Describing the curiosity we carried as children and how it fades, he says “You probably don’t remember, but when you were young, you probably asked your parents “Why?” 472 times in one hour, for everything. And, if students stayed that curious, my job would be just answering the why.” When his students begin to ask all of those “Why?” questions again, he knows he’s done his job correctly. He tries to incorporate all forms of learning in his teaching to encourage those “why” questions. He always gives time for his “tangents” for auditory learners, makes sure there’s always a hands-on section of the lesson for his kinesthetic learners, and does demonstrations for his visual learners. On an average day in Mr. Che’s classroom, there are “daily challenges” where the students compete to try to solve it. “My class will usually consist of challenges, and because they’re being challenged, it awakens their curiosity. And then they ask me questions and when I give them the answers, students are actually listening because they personally believe they need this information to solve the challenge.”
Mr. Che is a first-time STEM teacher this year, but previous to this, he’s taught Algebra I, Algebra II, Algebra III, Biology, Earth and Space Science, and Anatomy and Physiology. “I like the fact that I don’t have to justify so much why we’re doing stuff with our hands.” He enjoys that in STEM, it’s a very hands-on class and he doesn’t have to explain why they’re using their hands. Teaching STEM has been a bit of an adjustment for Mr. Che, but he’s incredibly grateful for the support and friendliness provided by the staff here at AHS. He said a piece of advice for anyone taking his class in the future would be to “Stay curious.”
Overall, Mr. Samuel Che is an absolutely wonderful man who’s very passionate about his job. He loves his students and he’s very thankful for the privilege to teach them new and exciting topics.
