Dear Chargers,

My name is Yidnekatchew Hailu.

Math has always been interesting to me. I remember as a student in eighth grade, I was so into mathematics that I always volunteered to go to the board and explain concepts to my classmates. Solving problems in my math book and sharing my solution with my friends gave me great satisfaction. It also made me popular in high school. Puzzles were also of great interest to me. The Rubic’s cube came out around the time I was in high school [ this means I am very old ]. I competed with my friends to see who could solve the cube in the shortest time. 

I joined UCLA as a physics major and after a couple of years, I switched to Mathematics and when asked for a reason, I said Mathematics is in charge of physics and I would be lost in physics if I didn’t understand the subject that makes physics work. I was so happy that I was able to change my majors. So many math courses to take, I didn’t want to graduate. I kept taking courses so much more than required that my college counselor personally called me and asked me to stop taking courses and graduate. It was around this time I became interested in teaching. There was a great demand for mathematics teachers, especially good teachers. I decided to join an internship that allowed me to visit high school classes and observe. After a few days of observation, I was convinced that I will enjoy teaching the subject and sharing my love for the subject with my high school students.

I am originally from Ethiopia. This is my first year at Crawford High School. I am very excited to be here. I have two children, both boys; Elias and Ayman. Elias is a junior at college while Ayman is a junior in HS. My wife Fetiya is a homemaker and a business woman .I have been a teacher for a long time and I love what I do. In my spare time, I like to shoot pool, play basketball with my sons or read books.

This year, I will be teaching Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus and AP Pre-Calculus.