Through the end of the day chatter and bustle of students throughout the halls, algebra teacher Matthew Weinsting’s classroom is a calm escape from the noise. 

Weinsting’s class could be considered lively and cluttered with motivational quotes decorating the walls. You can often find Mr. Weinsting wearing jeans, Chacos, and a bright patterned shirt.

Students and faculty alike would describe Weinsting as a fun, laid-back guy.

Josephine Kespohl (12), a student in Mr. Weinsting’s College Algebra class, said that Weinsting is “very relaxed and chill.” 

Despite his mellow personality, he has a strong passion for math. His love for math started when he was a junior in high school. 

“My friend mentioned that I always help people with math in study hall and that I should be a math teacher,” Weinsting said. “[So] I knew I wanted to do something with math.” 

As he ventured into college life and went through many changes throughout that time, he said that “math was kind of my driving force.” 

He eventually graduated from Westminster with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. After that, he came to Columbia and continued to get his master’s degree from the University of Missouri. 

His love for math even led him to find his wife, Amy Weinsting, who is a math teacher at West Middle School. 

Weinsting says that having a wife who is also a math teacher “does help with the offloading of being a teacher and de-stressing when we get home.” 

Since both of them are math teachers, and are constantly talking about math throughout the day, they created a rule where they are “not allowed to talk about math at home,” Weinsting said. 

Weinsting’s love for math translates into all aspects of his life, and it’s clear that he wouldn’t want it any other way. Weinsting even decided that this year he wanted to start teaching AP Calculus at the high school level. 

“I’ve been teaching calculus at the college level for the past few years. And so teaching it to the high school level is a big adjustment,” Weinsting said. “I’m not 100% sold on AP in general, the whole idea of teaching to a test and whatnot.”  

Weinsting’s love for math has not gone unnoticed around the school, and many of his students appreciate his teaching style. 

One of these students, Josephine Kespohl, stated, “He explains stuff really well and makes sure that we understand before we move on because math is a subject that builds on top of itself.” 

Mr. Weinsting’s experience has led him to be able to perfect his craft and become the teacher he dreamed of being when he was just a 16-year-old kid who loved math.