Wildwood School Viewbook: Brave Learners, Thinkers, and Doers

One day in his native Cyprus, Herach Danlyan’s favorite high school math teacher, who doubled as his soccer coach, showed him how calculus could apply to his favorite sport. “It was an ‘aha’ moment for me,” Herach says, “and making that connection for others became a passion of mine.” That passion and inspiration led Herach to Wildwood. An advanced upper school math teacher and coach of the middle school soccer team, he brings a guiding philosophy to both roles: “True education isn’t about what you remember about derivatives or other math concepts,” he says. “It’s about who you are as a person. In my 12 years at Wildwood, none of my classes have been the same.” The questions that students ask, and

the questions he poses, keep changing. Wildwood offers a safe environment for risk-taking and learning, he says, “not just for students but for teachers, too.” For Herach, math takes place everywhere — in the trajectory of a ball or a favorite recipe. Fluent in five languages and an ardent foodie, he uses a variety of approaches to reach his students. His top priority: “Students need to be problem-solvers. It’s something they’ll use lifelong,” says Herach, who earned his bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics at Stanford University and has completed graduate-level coursework at California State University, Northridge. Herach, who played soccer at the Olympic, college, and professional levels, now competes with a team of Wildwood alumni. A beloved advisor, he values most the relationships he builds with students and colleagues. “It’s a joy to teach here.”

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