FRIDAY FACULTY FEATURE: Rebecca Uchyn’s Ride with Stats

Rebecca Uchyn’s passion for her students and her community, through the teachings of math.

by Quinn Barton, Photography Editor • February 23, 2024

Rebecca Uchyn sits at her desk as she grades student work during seventh period AP Statistics Nov. 9. When she’s not up at the board teaching her class, Uchyn spends most of her time at her desk, where she is surrounded by decorations and lights. “I think a workspace is defined by the people in it. At Rock Canyon, the staff are incredibly dedicated to not just their students but also each other. We are supportive and encouraging through all the ups and downs of the school year. At the end of the day, work is work but being surrounded by really awesome people makes all the difference,” Uchyn said.

The bell rings.

Students walk into room 9450 to see Rebecca Uchyn preparing to teach her math classes. She teaches Algebra, Algebra II Trigonometry and, her favorite of all, AP Statistics.

“Math just explains the world around us and I find it so fascinating that things just work out in math and they do apply to so many real situations,” Uchyn said.

When Uchyn started teaching AP Statistics, she discovered her true passion for the topic.

“Since I’ve started teaching statistics, I’ve been reinvigorated with math because it’s so applied and comes with so many real-world contexts that can be analyzed with data,” Uchyn said.

Uchyn has been teaching for 10 years, all of them being at Rock Canyon. Before teaching, she went to college at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley where she majored in mathematics with an emphasis on secondary education.

“I interviewed at Cherokee Trail High School, where I did my student teaching, and at Rock Canyon. I had always thought that I wanted to teach in Cherry Creek School District because that is where I went to school. But, when I came to Rock Canyon for my interviews it felt like home,” Uchyn said. “I really enjoyed my interactions with Mrs. Zimmerman, and of course with Mr. Abner. I guess it was just a feeling that it was the right place for me. I’ve taught at Rock Canyon for 10 years now and I feel so thankful for my time here.”

Uchyn also sponsors the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) club as well as Scholastech.

The UNICEF club is where students come together to help children learn about different parts of the world.

“UNICEF is an international children advocacy group. We coordinate fundraisers to support UNICEF’s efforts to improve child welfare around the world. We also share content to educate members about issues concerning child welfare and ask them to help create campaigns to share the information as well. We share a lot of the content to the general public on our social media pages,” Uchyn said.

Scholastech is for teaching middle schoolers to code and learn more about the subject.

“Scholastech is a club that brings coding experience to younger people. Every other week they go to Rocky Heights to teach students how to code and do coding activities with middle schoolers,” Uchyn said.

Uchyn’s love for her community and students is what drives her every day.

“Most days, I love being in the classroom and feel so grateful that I get to have such a big impact on my students and they get to have such a big impact on me. I’ve always wanted to contribute to my community and help support our future generations. Being a teacher allows me to do that,” Uchyn said.

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