Often we have that one teacher that makes a huge impact on our life. A teacher that teaches us more than what’s on the lesson plan. It’s those teachers who really effect the school year and even the rest of our lives. At Lake Ridge students are lucky to have many teachers that impact them. One of these teachers is math teacher, Mr. Jay Ballauer.

After graduating from both Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the University of Texas at Arlington, Mr. Ballauer decided to start using his knowledge to teach kids.

“At first I wasn’t a teacher I was studying to be a minister and in order to get through school I needed a job, so I started teaching. In the beginning it was just a paycheck but then I started to realize that there was purpose to it. It was more than teaching whatever was on the lesson plan, it was teaching people. And I started to enjoy it and fall in love with it,” Ballauer said.

The more years Mr. Ballauer taught the more he understood the importance of teaching and what kind of impact it makes on the students when they see their teacher really cares.

“I want to reach the needs of the people in my classroom and I enjoy that and be fulfilled in that. Teaching is seeing other people reach their goals and feeling like you had a part in it,” Ballauer said.

As the year starts teachers have goals set of what they want to happen by the end of the year. Mr. Ballauer sets these goals based on what he values and what he thinks the students should get from his class.

“My first goal for me to accomplish is to let the students know I care, that I have no agenda. Then, as a math teacher, my goal would be to make sure that they start to appreciate math. I hope you realize how important it is. And then every now and again I get to know students on an individual bases and I wanted to see them grow. I want to be able to ask at the end of the year, have I improved? Have I grown?” he explained.

It’s easy to see that Mr. Ballauer cares for his students and he strives to make an impact on them. Katherine Piwonka, senior, was in Mr. Ballauer’s Pre Calculus class in the 2015-16 school year and enjoyed having him as a teacher.

“Mr. Ballauer taught me a lot. He taught me a lot of math but he also taught me that if you work hard you will succeed. He could recognize effort. And I think I took that to heart. He was a good friend and a great role model, but he knew what he had to do to teach you and how to get his lessons, math or life related, across,” Piwonka said.

From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, Mr. Ballauer teaches his students not only about math but also about life. He leaves a lasting impression on his students and helps them strive to be the best they can be.