H0M3 by KAMSC

Courses:

Mike Milka has been a math teacher for 28 years. He graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, with a major in Mathematics and minors in English and Computer Science. He has also completed Master’s degrees in Mathematics Education and Educational Leadership, both at WMU. He joined the KAMSC faculty in the Fall of 2001, from the Kalamazoo Public Schools, where he had been teaching mathematics for fifteen years. The last fourteen of those were at Loy Norrix High School, where his most recent teaching experience has been in Geometry and Advanced Placement Calculus AB. Over the years, he has taught almost all topics of high school mathematics offered in KPS, as well as courses in computer programming and literacy. Since 2001, Mr. Milka has been teaching Advanced Algebra (Math 2) and AP Calculus AB. Mr. Milka also teaches the KAMSC Summer Algebra Refresher course for new ninth graders.

‘I view Mathematics as part of the ongoing human endeavor to understand the intricacies of nature and the universe, and an effort to define the limits of human ingenuity and logic. Like language itself, the purpose of math is to provide clarity and consistency in how people communicate abstract ideas involving quantity, shape, pattern, prediction, and relationship. In Calculus, for instance, the primary goal is to discover the underlying patterns that govern, and are governed by, the behavior of a given function. When we stretch our limits of comprehension, we begin to see patterns that exist beyond the mere formula and its graph. There is a certain beauty in the logic and precision of mathematics, and I enjoy helping students to discover it.’

Mr. Milka also has a passion for science fiction, especially all things “Star Trek”. He has a growing collection of Star Trek action figures and other memorabilia on display in his classroom. Don’t be startled by the Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock cardboard standees who stand watch over his room. From time to time, extra credit questions about Start Trek may appear on tests, so it pays to be attentive to details about Star Trek characters and other trivia. For example, do you know what the different colors of the standard Star Fleet uniforms signify?