Rouse High School senior Cierra George, recognizing Melissa Helbert: “Saying that Mrs. Helbert changed my life is an understatement. From a young age, I was always looking to the stars, wondering what was beyond the earth’s atmosphere. I loved space, and always had a curiosity for rocketry and extraplanetary vehicles. However, I was also the kid that hated math, dreading walking into class every day. The intense math foundation of aerospace engineering scared me and contributed to my previous plan of majoring in international relations. But, after taking Pre-AP Pre-Calculus and AP Calculus AB with Mrs. Helbert, I discovered my love for math. Mrs. Helbert always goes out of her way to explain the real-world applications of calculus and what to look out for in college calculus classes. In every unit or so, I would hear the words, ‘And for you engineering majors...’ and perk up, excited to hear the advice she would give. Mrs. Helbert is part of the reason I decided to major in aerospace engineering, her class making me more comfortable with math. AP Calculus with Mrs. Helbert made the world of numbers make sense to me, leading me to discover the world beyond the stars.”
