Daryl Stephens:
CLASS OF 1979
Denton High SchoolClass of 1979
Denton, TX
Faubion Middle SchoolClass of 1988
Mckinney, TX
Slaughter Junior High SchoolClass of 1986
Mckinney, TX
Strickland Middle SchoolClass of 1976
Denton, TX
Wilson Elementary SchoolClass of 1973
Denton, TX
Daryl's Story
Life
After getting a B.S. in education at North Texas, I taught in the McKinney I.S.D. for seven years (five years of junior high math and two years of fifth grade). Along the way I picked up an M.Ed. from NT. Then I quit and got a master's in math from TWU while teaching part-time at what was then Cooke County and substitute teaching in Denton. I spent a year (1993-94) as a temporary instructor at what's now Macon State College in Macon, Georgia.
Since 1994, I've lived in Johnson City, Tennessee, where I'm now an aassociate professor of math (I teach algebra to underprepared students and math classes for prospective elementary teachers) at East Tennessee State University. While teaching full-time I earned a Ph.D. in math education in 2005 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (100 miles away).
I am active in several organizations. At church I'm in the chancel choir, work with the youth on Sunday evenings, and recently joined the adult handbell choir. I also direct our fifth and sixth grade handbell choir. I also sing in The Civic Chorale, an auditioned group here in Johnson City, and the Appalachian Men's Ensemble.
School
I always enjoyed school. I guess that's why ended up with four degrees (a Ph.D. being the latest and should be the last!). In elementary through high school I was always the awkward bookish kid who was the last one to be picked when we chose teams for a game, but one of the first picked when we picked teams for something academic. Being somewhat of an introvert, I enjoyed school ...Expand for more
but didn't take part in many social activities. I was picked on quite a bit in elementary and junior high, but things got better in high school as mean classmates matured, moved away, or in some cases died.
College
When I was an undergraduate I lived at home with my parents, so there weren't too many of the typical non-academic college experiences. Probably my best time I had in school outside of class was when I was around 30 and working on my master's at TWU and living on campus. I made friends there whom I still keep up with today. Working on my PhD at UTK was kind of disconnected since it's a 100-mile drive each way, and I was working full time while taking one or two classes a semester.
Workplace
I've been at ETSU since 1994, beginning as an instructor, then was tenured and promoted to assistant professor. From 1994-2003 I was in the division of developmental studies. We were decentralized in July 2003 due to budget cuts, so now I'm in the math department and teach developmental math and math for preservice elementary teachers (and occasionally trigonometry or secondary school math methods). I also am past president of the Upper East Tennessee Council of Teachers of Mathematics and of the Tennessee Association for Developmental Education (now the Tennessee Association for Student Success and Retention).. I love it every day! In 2010 I was promoted to associate professor, and am now associate chair of the department of mathematics and statistics. (Not a job I asked for; I drew the short straw, so to speak.)
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