Mrs. Mary LaSala

I joined the SACA team as a Mathematics Instructor in January 2010. I earned my bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and my master's degree in Environmental Engineering way back in the 1980's from Texas A&M University. During the last 25 years, I have worked as an engineer and volunteered as a math tutor in the public school system here in Tucson. I found that I loved working with kids more than I liked engineering, so I recently earned my teaching certification through Pima Community College so that I could teach full time. I am considered Highly Qualified as a High School Math instructor as well as a Career and Technical Education instructor with a specialty in Industrial and Emerging Technologies.

My husband and I have two wonderful daughters who are both in college now. My favorite past-time is woodworking, and I do a lot of it. We built a log cabin in the White Mountains over the last 8 years (okay it's still in progress). I keep my kayak up there and I like to take it out on the mountain lakes on calm days since I'm getting too old to do much river running. I also like to sew, paint, and do Martha Stewart-type crafting and gardening; but alas, it seems there is never enough time for all of it. I also love to travel whenever I have the time and opportunity.

All of the jobs and hobbies I've had involve using math, so I have lots of good answers to the inevitable student question, When will I ever use this? I like to help students relate the math they learn at SACA to situations outside school. One of the most important things I show students is that improving their problem-solving skills by practicing math helps them get better and better at problem-solving in a variety of situations in life.