“Mom, is Auntie Jodi going to tell everyone that we are related?” It was either 8th grade Ted or 7th grade Henry who asked my sister, Heidi, after they heard that I accepted the middle school math teaching job at Copper Island Academy. My response? “Do you think Henry would mind if I call him Heikki?” Um, yes he would mind since he doesn’t appreciate pet names in private, much less in front of his friends and classmates. Heidi wasn’t sure if I would be any match for their troublemaking until I reminded her that I worked with the 5% most vulnerable suburban Minneapolis students during distance learning in a pandemic. Some situations required law enforcement, in fact. Don’t tell Ted, but if the worst behavior is riding his longboard down the hallway, I will put my serious face on and sternly reprimand him, knowing that if I call his mother he will have consequences at home.

In all seriousness I am thrilled about this homecoming. Life changes drastically with each week’s passing. I left the Copper Country right after high school 25 years ago to attend the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology Honors Program. It was the first time I had driven on a freeway. There were 96 boys and 4 girls in my cohort, and I had the distinction of coming from the second to smallest high school. There was one boy from Phillips, WI. My high school teachers Ms. Simila and Mr. H prepared me well, but I was still out of my element, without support systems. Maybe if I had been allowed to live in the dorms with unbelievers. Maybe had I not had to hold a job to pay the rent. All of the maybes. But “maybe” is as dangerous a word to throw around as “should.” I had the highest score in Calculus class and I reminisce about a Chemistry lab in which I was the only one able to identify the colorless, odorless substances with 100% accuracy, because of my experience making leipäjuusto (squeaky bread cheese) with Gramma Helmi. How do you explain to a city kid that this is the texture of the curds after sitting with the rennet for 10 minutes at warmer than room temperature? You can’t. 

After having Mrs. Henderson as a teacher in the 1st grade I knew that I wanted three things in life: to be a waitress, mom, and teacher. I did those things and in that order. I raised my kids with a very Finnish approach, as I myself was raised. I paid attention to their interests and provided resources for them to pursue their passions. If you focus on children’s strengths, inevitably their weaknesses are made stronger. So this homecoming — where I have the built-in support of my sister — is the natural order of things. Disclaimer: CIA Director Nora Laho is my sister but had nothing to do with the hiring, for concerns of nepotism. I like to think I got the job based on merit alone, startup charter school experience and teaching 10+ years in a dozen or more different settings. I became an empty nester a little sooner than planned. I knew I needed a change in my topsy-turvy life so I pulled my teardrop camper, Tuulikki, north to ground myself and convince the principal, Steve Aho, that I was serious about wanting this job.

I plan on having a traditional classroom with hands-on supplementary activities. As time goes on, the teachers will collaborate on thematic units. This trust and autonomy given to classroom teachers is empowering. It allows us to be responsive to the needs of the students. The parents are sending their children to this school because they believe in the Finnish educational model. Many of them are Michigan Tech grads. I will find real-life mathematical applications whenever possible. 

#LifeIsAMathProblem #MathAsFineArt

If any of you have unique knowledge or skills to share, no matter how obscure, and happen to be visiting in the Hancock area, I welcome you to my classroom. 

CIA went from an idea in August of 2020 to a school that will open its doors in September of 2021. Find out more at copperislandacademy.org

—Jodi Hyrkäs