Mr. Shiner is one of Atherton’s many new teachers. Specializing in mathematics, he teaches IB HL Analysis (years 1 and 2) as well as CCR (college and career readiness math).
Despite his impressive skills, Shiner was not always a fan of mathematics.
“When I was In high school, I did not love math, not at all,” he says. “When I went to college, I taught myself calculus to try to test out of some stuff, and I did test out of two semesters of calculus by, like, just sitting around one summer and just reading the book, and I just got fascinated. I was just really fascinated with the puzzle.”
Just like his attitude with mathematics, Shiner was also not always interested in teaching. Coming out of college, he worked in mathematical finance, but later got into teaching due to his inability to remain in one place.
“My family was doing quite a bit of moving around, following another person’s job, and so I couldn’t stay with one company. So I needed something to do to kind of fill the time. We lived in New Orleans at the time, so I started teaching in New Orleans.”
When asked as to why he started teaching at Atherton, Shiner replied, “I’m from here, and I’ve been home for six years now. I worked at Fairdale High School, and when this opportunity came up to teach this level of mathematics (IB HL Analysis), I knew this was a really good fit for me.”
Despite his history of being on the move, Shiner seems like he is here to stay.
When asked about his opinions on Athertons unique culture, he says that he “absolutely loves it. It’s more like a small college than a high school, at least the classes that I teach.”
