John Kostibas , Marcus High School

John Kostibas saw the problem in the educational pipeline. As a major player in the telecommunications revolution and an engineer himself, he noticed “a huge decline in American engineering students, all stemming from a math phobia they had in middle and high school.”

He was 54. “My thought was that if I can help them get over this phobia, I can direct more students into engineering and technology careers.”

After years of startups and high stress business deals, Kostibas decided the time was right. “I was ready to do what I always wanted to do, which was teach math in high school.”

To make the switch, he did his research. Eventually he chose Collin College in suburban Allen, Texas, because it offered a fast-track certification program aimed at those transitioning to second careers – just one semester of study and one semester as a student teacher.

“I wondered if teaching would be what I expected and whether I would like doing it,” Kostibas says. “It had been quite a while since I was in a classroom, and the entire world has changed tremendously.”

But he knew he had something to offer. “Every algebra student thinks, ‘Why in the world do I need this?’ But I can show them that without it you wouldn’t have your tiny cell phone or the strange angles in buildings or the fiber-optic systems that can transmit movies. It’s all there because someone sat down and worked out the math.”

Kostibas is now teaching algebra and geometry at Marcus High School in Louisville, Texas. The match is a good one for him and for his students. “The ‘aha!’ moment when a kid understands something,” he says, “that’s the reward.”

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