Comments (2)Where Are They Now? Robin Cohen Nesky
September 2009Written by Debra Roth Kane
Photography By Justin Tsucalas
“Back to school” means something special when applied to Robin Cohen Nesky’s life. She was a 1996 graduate of Pikesville High School. Then, in the spring of 2004, she went back — this time as a math teacher.
Robin began as a long-term substitute. That summer she started a master’s program in teaching at Towson University and was hired full-time the following school year. Her course load changes each year, but this fall she is teaching calculus and pre-calculus.
Today, Robin lives in Stevenson with her husband Mark, an electrical engineer originally from Sudbury, Mass. They have two daughters, Alice, 5 months old, and Jenna, 3.
iNSIDER: You did not go straight to teaching as a career?
Robin: I got my bachelor and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. For a few years I worked as a process engineer at Sweetheart Cup, now Solo Cup.
Why the switch to teaching?
I liked engineering, liked the mental challenge, but I prefer working with people to talking to machines.
Would you say that math is still viewed as a subject for boys, a subject in which boys excel?
I had a female chemistry professor in college who said to me, ‘You’re pretty good at math for a girl.’ Engineering is a male-dominated field; at Solo, it was all old men. But my students seem to perform equally well. Girls are often more visual and verbal, but both genders can perform well in math.
Why teach at PHS in particular?
Baltimore County was having a job fair. There were a million tables. I figured I’d go to the Pikesville High School table. My high school English teacher, Mike Bruner, was at the table; at the time he was vice principal at PHS. He said that they were looking for a math teacher. I interviewed soon after with the math department chair. By the time I got home from the interview, he had called and left a message with my husband offering me the job.
As a teacher, what’s the highlight?
Passing kids in the hall and having them say hi, especially former students — I like when kids e-mail me from college to say, ‘I remember when you taught me this equation we studied today. Thanks.’ I also like when the AP scores arrive in July. Teachers flock in to see how their students do. It’s a reunion.
As a student, what was the highlight of your school day?
Math class. And I liked choir with Dr. Disharoon. I still talk to some of my teachers. I want that with my students.
Any change in your point of view now that you are a parent?
I have a new perspective on how parents feel about their kids during teacher conferences. It’s like watching mother bears on the nature channel.