New math teacher Benjamin Burger is excited to educate and be a part of Algonquin.

After his senior year of high school, Burger worked as a counselor at Camp Woodhaven in West Boylston, Massachusetts, where his passion for working with adolescents began. Although he first majored in engineering at the University of Connecticut, his love for mentoring youth ultimately led him to switch his major.

“I really wanted to find a career that combined the two [mathematics and teaching],” Burger said.

He switched majors and graduated with an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education with a concentration in Mathematics and a master’s in Education from the University of Connecticut. After graduating, he taught math at Framingham High School for five years, and his experience there contributed to the Mathematics Department Head Elizabeth Dore hiring him.

“We felt like he had the perfect amount of experience and he had a great educational background,” Dore said.

Dore noted that last year, the math department was composed of mostly women, with only two of 15 teachers being men. The addition of Burger and fellow new math teacher Corey Pooler helped diversify the department. 

“I feel like it rounded out our department and made it more represented,” Dore said.

Burger teaches Algebra II, Geometry and Individual Math at the college prep level, and works to establish connections with his students through his lessons. 

“I really enjoy getting to know all my students,” Burger said. “Getting to know faculty members, administrators, counselors and all the new fun faces is definitely my highlight.”

Burger was born and raised in Marlborough and his sense of community has led him back to this area. In his free time, Burger enjoys spending time with his family and playing sports such as hockey and golf and he looks forward to getting more involved with extracurriculars.

“It’s nice to be closer to home in a place that might be a little more familiar to me,” Burger said. “There’s definitely a positive energy here at Algonquin that I really like.”