Mr. Christopher Castillo is a math teacher at Birmingham Community Charter High School, and he has been teaching at BCCHS since 2015. Castillo is described by his students to be a patient, passionate, and helpful teacher, who enjoys going to music festivals and concerts, going to the gym, playing video games, watching movies and reality TV, and watching YouTube videos.
Castillo pursued becoming a math teacher after working at an office. He said, ‘’At 22-23 years old, I was working at an office, but I realized I wanted to do something more rewarding.’’ He continued, “In college, I tutored and peer-advised at local high schools and I really enjoyed student interactions.’’
According to Castillo, math is important to students’ lives because “math builds reasoning and logic skills. In the real world, you probably never have to calculate the volume of a cone, but if students can learn how the formula for the cone is derived, then they can take that reasoning and apply it to general problem-solving in the world. I also think that being good at math can open a lot of career opportunities for students in the future!’’
His favorite lesson to teach is the chain rule in Calculus. His philosophy for teaching is patience. He explained, “I try to give students support while they figure out their practice problems. Sometimes the material might not come right away to students. I also want to give students time to work with each other, since that’s how they learn the best.’’ Castillo has a special connection with many of his students and other staff members, and he believes that teaching can be very rewarding, even if it can be stressful at times.
Ms. Morfin, a BCCHS math teacher said, “His teaching is different because he relates to his students, and he uses his time after school to tutor his students.” Ms. Manzo-Ustariz added, “Mr.Castillo is a perfect example of having patience with his students, which helps them grow and improve.’’
Castillo said his favorite memory is “seeing the students who I have a really good relationship with graduate.’’ After asking some of his former students for a word that describes Mr. Castillo, Isai Tale (11) said, “Easy-going, he’s a really chill teacher, the homework was reasonable, and he made testing feel easy!’’ Another student, Sergio Gonzales (12) commented, “Passionate, because he loves teaching others, and he gives up his hours to help students. It is so amazing that he teaches his students and has a deep passion for teaching others.”
Rebecka Garcia, (12) added, “Gummy Bear, he gives off a gummy bear vibe, he’s a very sweet teacher.’’ Jorge Marquez, (11) said “Courageous, he cares about each person and has enough time for everyone. I love him!’’ One of his former AP Calc students, Rodrigo Pelaez (12) said, “Helpful, he’ll take time out of his day to help students. During AP Calc he would host study groups and make sure we were all fed so we could study to our full potential.’’
Finally, after talking to many of Mr.Castillo’s former students, it is easy to see that Mr.Castillo isn’t just an amazing math teacher, but also a kind and dedicated teacher that students can count on and view as a friend!
