Upper School math teacher Hsi Hou Fernandez had her heart set on becoming a veterinarian. But after discovering that working with sick animals wasn’t her true calling, she stepped into the classroom for fun and fell in love with teaching.
What began as a temporary role as a math teacher quickly grew into a career built around a passion for helping students discover the joy in learning.
“I got into teaching because my mom told me there was a shortage of math teachers,” Fernandez said.
Though Fernandez says she has always been both a math and science person, she chose to focus on math because she found joy in the problem-solving process.
“I believe that kids don’t like math because somewhere along their journey, it stops making sense, and when it stops making sense, it’s not fun anymore,” Fernandez said. “My favorite thing about teaching math, is that moment when kids understand and realize, it’s not as hard as I thought.”
Fernandez began her teaching career in 2006 at the Phoenix Union High School District in Arizona. After five years, she moved to California to teach in the Corona-Norco Unified School District. Six years later, she returned to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Fernandez worked in Frisco, where she lived before attending Texas A&M university, before coming to Greenhill.
Throughout her 17 years as a teacher, Fernandez has watched students grow by nurturing their curiosity and encouraging them to stay engaged in their learning.
“What I love about Greenhill is that the focus isn’t just on grades; It’s a community that comes from teachers, parents, and administrators,” Fernandez said. “That balance makes it one of the least stressful and most fulfilling places I’ve taught at.”
Many students appreciate her ability to make challenging material easier to understand in class.
“[Fernandez] is cool and funny, with a nice way of teaching things,” senior Arjun Bhatnagar said. “She takes complicated concepts and breaks them down super easily for me.”
Outside of teaching, Fernandez continues to embrace her love of learning by dedicating her free time to picking up new hobbies such as leathercraft, origami, and rock climbing.
She has always thought about going back to school for an administrative degree but has withheld venturing into administrative education due to her love for being in the classroom.
“In the public school sector, administrators are no longer in the classroom,” Fernandez said. “Greenhill is exactly that change I needed, many of the administrators or campus leaders are still teachers.”
