From silly math puns to mathematical magic tricks, math teacher Stephen Quelette’s room is always filled with fun and notable arithmetic.

As a graduate of Dublin Coffman High School, he played soccer and was part of his school’s math club. His favorite subject was math, he has always been intrigued and gifted in math.

Quelette’s love for math goes far beyond the classroom. He said that in his free time he does some fun math problems, “I just like doing math and that’s what I want to do.” 

Currently, Quellete teaches Financial Algebra, Honors Algebra 2 and Geometry. He decided to be a math teacher after working as an engineer for several years. 

“That wasn’t my calling for the long run, so I retooled and decided math was what I wanted to teach, high school math. I haven’t regretted a second of it. It’s been great,” Quellete said. “It can be challenging at times because math isn’t every student’s favorite subject. Sometimes, kids struggle in seeing the relevance to some of the math; but I get excited about it, and I try to share that excitement with the kids.”

He was drawn to math because it’s factual. “You have a purpose, usually you have an end goal whether it’s an answer or drawing some conclusion to something. I like that there’s usually some sort of an end to it,” Quellete said.

Quellete’s wish is to teach students that math doesn’t have to be your biggest enemy, it can be fun if you put in the work. He said, “I try to encourage others that math isn’t rocket science. You guys can do this too. If you put your mind to it, if you practice and commit to it you can do the math you don’t have to be scared by math you can actually be excited about it .” 

Quellete’s favorite thing about Westerville South is the people. “South has great teachers and we have great students,” he said.

Fellow math teacher Tyler Neal said Quellette deeply cares about his students, not only their success but also their overall well being. “He celebrates them, which is very fun to see. He goes to sporting events and different musicals, … which I think is fun.”  

It is his caring nature that also prompted Quellette to rescue his two dogs; the older one, Hazelnut is a lab mix and the younger one, Coconut is an Australian Shepherd terrier mix.

Quelette has also volunteered at the Humane Society.  “I just connect with dogs. I think that the excitement that they show and the companionship is just unmatched compared to any other animal,” he said.

Sophomore McKay Edwards described his math teacher, Mr. Q, as a very energetic person, which extends beyond the classroom.

Quelette is a serious bike rider and used to be an avid soccer player as well.

“Sometimes my bike shows up in the back of my classroom. Cycling is my main thing now. I’m always thinking about it too. Always ‘Oh, when can I be done here and go on that bike ride.’” 

He’s completed almost 200 bike races and one of his greatest cycling accomplishments was biking 133 miles around Columbus. That was his longest ride and he did it twice. He said it’s not about finishing first but just finishing. He also used to mountain bike when he lived in Idaho.  

Quelette’s biggest piece of advice is to put the phone down, engage in your life and make the most of the high school experience. “There’s always something to learn.” he said. “Embrace everything you have going on. Learn more about yourself, develop skills, prepare yourself for the future even though you don’t know what it looks like… You are always going to be with yourself,  so do what you need to do for you to develop skills that are going to prepare you for the unknown future.”