The purpose of our Where Are They Now series is twofold. We love to share Alumni success stories to inspire current and future Ball State students and to highlight opportunities provided by our department. Thank you for helping tell the Ball State story of how we fly!

Please introduce yourself—I’d love to know when you attended Ball State, your area(s) of study, and any other tidbits that help us get to know you.

My name is Jess Chaney. I attended Ball State University from 2020 to 2024, studying a bachelor’s in secondary mathematics education. I am also currently in the master’s program for mathematics education as well! I served as an officer in the Ball State Teachers of Mathematics club (BSCTM).

Tell us about your current job. We’d love to hear about the day-to-day work and your broader projects.

I am currently working as a math teacher at Southport High School- with one of my fellow alumni! I teach three inclusion sections of Algebra 1, one of which is a double block (Instead of ninety minutes 3 times a week, I see them for ninety minutes every day). I also have two sections of general Algebra 1. This year, I joined a program that we are piloting at my school called Freshman Success. It involves creating a team of teachers, all of whom have a common group of about 150 kids. Students are not necessarily aware of the teaming, but we use it when creating their schedules. Instead of meeting with our department during weekly professional development, we meet as a team. It allows us to run intervention on struggling students, help share classroom ideas across departments, and celebrate growth in all our students throughout their freshman year. I am very excited that I was asked to take part this year, and I can’t wait to see how it goes!

Will you describe your career path. Did you land your current job immediately after graduation or find your way there circuitously? How have you grown and learned in each of your successive jobs that led to your current position? What is the most fulfilling part of your current job?

I had an interesting series of events that led me to my current job. I was at a different district during my student teaching and was assured that they were trying to find a position for me in some capacity in the building for the following school year (Fall 2024). Unfortunately, that did not pan out. Rather than end up in an unfamiliar school district for my first year of teaching, I decided to become a substitute teacher for multiple districts in my area. My thought process was that I could use being a substitute as an opportunity to get to know different districts and their work environments over the course of the 2024-2025 school year.

Pretty early on, a fellow ’24 graduate from the math education program reached out to me about a long-term substitute position to cover an Algebra 1 teacher’s maternity leave at Southport High School. I took the job and immediately jumped in! I taught mainly Algebra 1 Sheltered, which exclusively contains English Language Learners at a Level 1, 2 or lower 3. This was a brand new and challenging experience for sure, but I fell in love with the students, faculty, and administration at Southport. I spent the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year as a building sub, mainly working within the math department.

Then, I was hired on for my first ‘official’ year of teaching for the 2025-2026 school year! However, I did not have a classroom. I was on a cart, teaching in other teachers’ classrooms during their prep time. It was a challenge, but a great way to meet people in all parts of the building and definitely forced me to become as organized as possible.

This year, I got word that I would receive a classroom about a week before school started! The past couple weeks have been a blur of set-up and preparation, and I am so excited for this school year!

What are the most valuable skills you learned as a Ball State student in the College of Sciences and Humanities? How have they helped you post-graduation?

The mathematics skills and specifically the mathematics specific teaching courses have helped me immensely. I learned many different methods of teaching content at Ball State. This has helped a lot with fully supporting my students and explaining things in multiple ways to help build their conceptual understanding.

Is there a particular class, professor, or professional opportunity that had a particularly significant impact on you?

I had many fantastic professors throughout my time at Ball State. Some of the ones that particularly stick out are Dr. John Lorch, Dr. Jonathan Watkins, and Dr. Jenna Menke. Dr. Lorch helped me develop a love for advanced mathematics and all the opportunities that it can provide us. He helped me to further fall in love with mathematics and inspired me to work towards teaching college-level courses at the high school level. Dr. Watkins was a part of my college experience from the very first semester, all the way until the end. He helped me grasp all the unique ways that mathematics can be explained and how different mathematical ideas interconnect with each other. He and Dr. Menke also helped me to grow as an educator, a leader, and a person. She taught me that technology is not good or bad- the way that we use it is what matters.

What advice do you have for current or future students in your major or who might hope to follow your career path?

My main advice is to find your people, and pay attention to the people in the buildings that you want to work in. The biggest thing that has impacted my enjoyment of teaching is my coworkers. Not just the other teachers in my department and building, but the master teachers that evaluate me and the building administrators. I can say with confidence that the people in my building care about me as an educator AND a human. The people around you, the ones that you interact with every day, MATTER. When you walk into an interview, it’s not just one-sided.

Thank you for your time and impact! Chirp, Chirp!