Cross, Continental, Mathematics

Ms. Alexandria Balog, The New Math Teacher, Joined Maclay from Japan

Photo by Ethan Woodring / Maclay Andalusian

This year, you may have seen a new smiling face on Maclay’s campus. Meet Ms. Balog, Maclay's new honors algebra II teacher! Though she is a graduate from Florida State University, before that, she spent 12 years in Japan. 

Formerly, Balog lived with her stepdad on a military base where he was stationed. Those who live on military bases don’t attend the same schools as native citizens, rather there are special schools there for children of Military families. Because of this background, she brings a new perspective to the slate of Maclay’s faculty. 

As a child in Sasebo, Japan, she was inspired by her teachers to become a teacher herself. She recalls tutoring her peers and how she wanted to pass a torch of confidence into the next generation of students. She wishes to show math doesn’t have to be some unnavigable obelisk, but rather a language that can help us understand the world around us, imbued with beauty, sense and logic. 

In Japan, schools put a heavy emphasis on independence and self sustainability. The students are a part of the janitorial staff – they do the cleaning themselves! School becomes the center of their life. Clubs are quite popular in Japan, with many different types: theatre, broadcasting, urban involvement, etc. Students must balance their club life with student life, learning how to regulate work for their future adulthood. School life in Japan is rigorous, meaning there must be heavy devotion to your work. There is also a golden standard that is present no matter the occupation. School life becomes the central aspect of the students' lives. Japan’s social culture is its work culture; it’s what the country thrives on, and Balog brings these principles of worklife to Maclay. 

Ms. Balog tells an anecdote which illuminates these core values, “I dropped my entire wallet at a random bus stop in Japan, and I obviously just started crying because I had everything that I had in there, and I was in high school at the time. My mom went back to check the bus station, and it was gone. It had disappeared. So, she went to the nearest police station and someone had turned in my wallet to the police station without taking anything.” 

For people wanting to visit Japan, Ms. Balog recommends a rural lifestyle, where you can immerse yourself in the culture, and witness the local firework festivals. On the topic, some Japanese prefectures Mrs. Balog recommends to visit, perfect for their localized lifestyle

 are Fukuoka, Tochigi and Yamaguchi. 

“Ms. Balog is a very kind and thoughtful teacher who always gives great advice whenever I am having trouble with a difficult Algebra problem,” sophomore Will Cintron said. 

Ms. Balog's students are always grateful to be in her class, and appreciate her teacher-student communication.

“She is very kind and helps her students understand everything she teaches,” sophomore Landen Garber said. 

Once Ms. Balog graduated from her high school in Sasebo, she came to Tallahassee to enroll in the Florida State University Teach program. This allowed her to be near her father in the time she was at college. 

Ms. Balog lived and learned about Japan’s view of independence and self sustainability, and is working hard to implement it into both the math curriculum and everything she does as she begins her career as a teacher at Maclay school.