“I would take being called a nerd as a compliment,” said William Malone, a new math teacher at Charles H. Flowers High School.

Mr. Malone is a tall man with a beard and an approachable personality. Malone, from Indiana, attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and University of Indiana in Salt Lake City, Utah. Proud to be a well-educated man, Malone holds a doctorates degree in Geometric Group Theory, and credits both math and graduate school in changing the way he thinks in life.

Malone grew up in Indiana with his sister and parents and attended Monroe Central High School, where he participated in the Interdisciplinary Academic Team. The son of a computer scientist and a psychiatric nurse, Malone said his parents’ careers did not influence the career path he chose. According to Malone, math came naturally, of course until graduate school. He was a normal college student that did what normal eighteen to twenty year old students did in college, which included participating in casino night. However, he was the Residence Hall Association President for one year and ran one of the Mud Volleyball Tournaments.

One of the main reasons why Malone moved to Maryland was to be closer to his only sister, who lives in the metropolitan area. Malone said he enjoys the change of environment, and that the biggest difference between Utah and Maryland is that Utah is dry and has mountains while Maryland is close to the ocean. Board games, reading, hiking, and biking are some of the things Malone likes to do in his spare time.

The students and staff of Flowers accepted Malone with opened arms.

“He is a good teacher that teaches at a college level but makes the subject easy to understand,” said Kanard Brooks, one of Malone’s students.

Malone received nothing but praise from his fellow co-workers Bunmi Olowoyo and Mae Freeman-Reid.

“During the last three weeks he has proved to be a responsible individual. He is able to take initiative and he has a good rapport with students,” said Olowoyo, who worked with Malone as he interned at Flowers.

A great addition to the staff, Malone “brings a lot of training and opens up the selection to the teachers who can teach higher level courses,” said Freeman-Reid, a fellow math teacher at Flowers.

From Indiana to Utah to the hallways of Charles H. Flowers High School, Malone said his first few weeks at Flowers have been fantastic and enjoys teaching.