Nathan Casas is the new Integrated Math (IM) 1, IM 1 A and IM 2 teacher this year. He has previously taught for eight years at Carpinteria High School, which is located in Santa Barbara County. Casas says he is settling in well, but it is hard adjusting to a new atmosphere and the culture of CHS. As a co-teacher with Jaimie Oberbeck, it is a new experience; he says it has been a great time to bond with the class and is very happy to work with someone who also enjoys math.
“I am looking forward to getting to know the students more, getting to know the staff more, familiarizing myself with culture and getting a little bit more comfortable here,” Casas said.
Casas grew up in the La Verne area and attended Bonita high school; then he attended Mt. SAC. Afterwards, Casas graduated from Cal-State Fullerton (CSUF) with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and received his teaching credential at CSUF. Due to his familiarity with the area, he experienced reverse culture-shock, when he moved back this year. Santa Barbara County is dominated by agriculture as opposed to colleges. The size of CHS also shocked him. It is about four times greater than Carpinteria High School. With the student and faculty population growing at CHS, there is less and less room for everyone.
“I have never had to change classrooms before, and Carpinteria was so much smaller than CHS,” Casas said.
His favorite class to teach is IM 2, because of his love of trigonometry. He aspires one day to teach higher levels of math at CHS, because he previously taught AP Calculus at Carpinteria. Casas has many different hobbies to keep him occupied during his free time. Casas plays many instruments, including the guitar, bass, and banjo. He hopes to possibly teach the guitar elective in the future, because he previously taught it and really enjoys playing it as well. He is also interested in environmental science, and hopes to possibly teach AP Environmental Science later in his teaching career. In his spare time Casas spends most of his time with his family; he also loves to do any sort of outdoor activity. He enjoys hiking at Mt. Baldy, camping at Big Sur, and fishing just about anywhere.