Seneca High School math teacher makes all those numbers click

During her first year teaching, Jenna Maierhofer was in the middle of a math lesson when she witnessed it “click” for a struggling student.

“I don’t even remember what the lesson was, but all of a sudden, he was like, ‘This is really cool,’” she said.

Maierhofer said there have been other instances where that kind of thing has happened, whether it’s with students who already love math or ones who understand the concept once it’s applied to the real world.

“My calculus class this year is full of kids who, if I put any question out there, they take off and they’re trying to figure it out before I can say anything else,” she said. “They’re very inquisitive.”

Maierhofer has been a beloved teacher for more than two decades. She will retire from Seneca High School at the end of the year.

How my students feel is a big deal to me. I want them to feel pushed, but I want them to feel safe. I want them to feel like they can give a wrong answer. They can make a mistake and not be chastised, made fun of or ridiculed.

—  Jenna Maierhofer, Seneca High School math teacher

She has spent her career ensuring math wasn’t a struggle for her students. But most important to her was that every student who stepped foot into her room felt seen and heard.

“How my students feel is a big deal to me,” she said. “I want them to feel pushed, but I want them to feel safe. I want them to feel like they can give a wrong answer. They can make a mistake and not be chastised, made fun of or ridiculed.”

Maierhofer chose to pursue a career in education during her junior year in high school, after her Algebra II teacher suggested it. She has been interested in teaching and said that when it came down to it, she didn’t know what else she could do.

“There was a time in college where a lot of my friends, who were engineering majors, tried to convince me to go over to the dark side and become an engineer, and I contemplated it for a while, but I knew that I wanted to have a family,” Maierhofer said.

She believes education would give her the best of both worlds, allowing her to work with students and work with math, but offer summer vacations to spend as a mother raising her children.

And it did. She married Jeff Maierhofer, an agriculture teacher at Seneca High School, and they have two sons, Levi, 22, and Calvin, 19.

Maierhofer said raising two children who love school and people, and get involved in their communities is her greatest personal success. As an educator, she said, “your accomplishments are not your own.”

“Your accomplishments are your students’ successes,” she said. “But it’s never one person that makes it happen. It’s the kid, but also the other teachers and their input as well.”

In the mid-1990s, she began offering after-school and weekend study sessions for students who needed more time for complex concepts.

“I feel like math is a sport,” she said. “You’re not going to get better at math if you don’t do math.”

Kaitlin Monahan, a La Salle-Peru math teacher and former student of Maierhofer, said she was inspired to become an educator while in Maierhofer’s classroom.

“Mrs. Maierhofer made coming into class fun,” she said. “Walking into a math class is not typically something that most high school students look forward to. ... With Mrs. Maierhofer’s classes, though, no one thought that way. Everyone came in and were active participants in the learning process. She created an environment where all her students felt comfortable enough to ask questions.”

Monahan also has the unique perspective of being able to call Maierhofer her aunt. She’s had the pleasure of watching her in her professional element her entire life.

“Literally, I have memories of 4-year-old me leaving the preschool room that the early childhood development class was [taught in] and going to hang out in her classroom or my uncle’s in the ag department until my mom would come pick me up,” Monahan said. “Math was also my favorite subject growing up, and seeing how much fun my aunt had teaching it made me want to share that feeling with my own students.”

As an educator, she said she finds herself trying to match the level of group work Maierhofer offered with minimal “lecture.”

“I want my students to know how to ask questions and when, to be able to persevere and critically think to find the answers they need,” she said. “As my aunt has modeled, I am more of a guide and resource in students’ learning.”

Marilee Applebee, an English teacher at SHS, said she also offers review nights for students who need extra help before an exam.

“She’ll go in and make sure they understand, or catch up, or figure it out, or even just help others,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Dang.’ I think devoting a whole day in the classroom is pretty good … but she literally takes another big chunk out of an evening if a kid needs help. So, that’s amazing.”

Applebee said if a student doesn’t understand a concept, Maierhofer will find a way to get that student over the finish line, whether it be having the student go back to their notes or teaching them an alternate way to get the answer.

“She wants to make sure you understand it,” Applebee said. “She’s also really encouraging and is very successful at letting students collaborate. … In her room, the desks are set up in little pods of four desks, and they talk it out.”

Superintendent Dan Stecken said Maierhofer cares deeply about the progress of her students mathematically, but more so, she genuinely cares, and she shows that regularly for all her students’ growth.

“She comes in on weekends, offers extra review sessions, supports her students at their athletic events, and has immersed herself in Irish Pride for the entirety of her career,” he said.

Stecken said Maierhofer supported him as a 22-year-old teacher and continues to show support for everyone at SHS.

“She is a legacy, an institution in our math department,” he said. “Truly, Mrs. Maierhofer is a gem at Seneca High School.“

In retirement, Maierhofer said she is looking forward to her freedom – scheduling a doctor’s appointment or an oil change without thinking about a lesson plan.

“I will miss working with the students,” she said.

She said if she gets the itch or begins to miss it too much, she can always pick up tutoring. But for now, traveling is on the list.

“I have been studying Italian for the last three years,” she said. “So I want to spend some time in Italy. I’ve also been brushing up on my Spanish. … When school starts in August, we have a cruise planned.”

“So when everyone goes back to school, I’m going to go to New England on a cruise.”