Iowa native high school math teacher Mason Frank said he loves the idea of being part of a supportive community at Park.

After graduating from a small-town high school near Des Moines, Iowa, Frank attended Iowa State University, where he said he found his calling with math.

“Math has always come easy to me,” Frank said. “When I was in my freshman year my math teacher at the time pulled me aside and was like, ‘you should think about teaching math.’”

Frank said he chose to switch from finance to education and math in college after his teacher talked to him about becoming a math teacher.

“I just found it easy to communicate math ideas and concepts and work with people and so that’s when I made the switch to education,” Frank said.

Frank said he came to Park because he wanted a math department to collaborate with.

“I wanted to be part of a math department,” Frank said. “Here, there’s nine or 10 of us math teachers, so that level of support is really nice to have.”

Aside from teaching math, Frank said he enjoys running and is training for a marathon in December. He said running is a hobby he picked up when he was in high school.

“I’m very competitive with running now,” Frank said. “I’ve gotten better and faster since I graduated from college and one of my goals that I have right now, just as a personal goal, is I’m trying to qualify for the Olympic trials.”

As an athlete, Frank said he loves conversing with students about any and all sports.

“I enjoy running, so if you want to talk to me about running, or just any sport in general, I’d love to talk that,” Frank said.

According to Frank, knowing he can help students grasp a concept they didn’t think they could understand rewards him greatly.

“I just like seeing students progress and excel past what their own expectations of themselves are,” Frank said. “When I see a kid who achieves something in math because of something I’ve done and it’s something that they didn’t know they could do, that’s a pretty awesome feeling.”

Frank said he believes all students can learn and find success in math no matter the circumstances.

“Every student can learn,” Frank said. “They might not learn it today, they might not learn it tomorrow, they might not learn it next week, but every student has the possibility of learning.”

Frank said he supports students breaking boundaries when it comes to math. He said he believes everyone can excel in math if they give their best effort.

“This mindset that students aren’t math-oriented or can’t do science or can’t read, it’s a myth,” Frank said. “And it’s one that I try and bust every single day.”

Frank said he believes all goals are attainable with the right determination and time commitment, and he can relate that to his running.

“When you have that big of a goal, you have to be dedicated more than just 30 minutes a day,” Frank said.

According to Frank, his goals include being a teacher who understands students and the struggles they face.

“I try to be as good of a teacher as I can be and try and help the students as best I can, individualize things — be here when the students need me to be here,” Frank said.