Teacher profile: Ms Stough

Photo taken by Nyda Hosack

If you’ve ever had Ms. Stough, you should know that her first name is Nay, pronounced like Bill Nye. So when you see her outside of school, remember to pronounce her name correctly! At ERHS, Ms. Stough teaches 7th grade accelerated math, honors geometry, and is now teaching AP Calculus again for the first time in 11 years in hopes to teach math analysis for seniors in the DP program. However, she’s taught every type of math from 7th grade up to calculus and statistics at some point in her career, but her favorite is definitely geometry.

Growing up in Long Beach in an immigrant family from Cambodia, Ms. Stough was the youngest child of 9 siblings. This was not as chaotic as you might think, as there was a large age gap between her and most of her siblings, who were mostly already married by the time she was 5. Despite this, she always had to share a room with at least one of her siblings, which taught her how to be vocal about all her problems and come up with solutions. This is also when she discovered her passion for math, as she loved coming up with answers to math problem sets, which ended up getting her an offer to a competitive magnet middle school. Without knowing anything about career options and being surrounded by teachers all day, Ms. Stough knew she would be a math teacher ever since her middle school algebra teacher gave her the idea, saying that she has a gift of explaining math concepts to her friends. Looking back, she wishes she had explored other options, but says that she has zero regrets when it comes to teaching and making a difference in the world.

While she used to teach at the STEM Academy of Hollywood, Ms. Stough transferred to ERHS a few years ago and has been super involved in the community ever since. She sponsors various clubs, including the origami club on Wednesdays during lunch, and the financial literacy club last year. She also helps out with the key club at ERHS, having sponsored it at her old school. She also was the lead for the Gray Wings house back when middle school houses were still in place, bringing them 2 wins in her history of being a middle school house leader.

Outside of teaching, Ms. Stough’s hobbies come in cycles, but her main hobbies are sewing, cooking, and painting. If you’ve had her at any point, you’re probably familiar with her custom-made shirts, including one that she keeps in her classroom at all times in case of emergencies, with the “gray wings” symbol from the middle school houses that were in place a few years ago. Ms. Stough loves to cook, always making sure her family enjoys her cooking by learning and perfecting new recipes in her free time, her favorite type of food being soups and her favorite food cuisine being Mexican.

Ms. Stough says that her favorite type of music is silence, because her entire life, which is taking care of her kids and teaching teenagers all day, is full of noise, and in her free time, she prefers to enjoy the quiet rather than listen to music. Speaking of her kids, she has two daughters of ages 8 and 10, and a golden retriever named Riley (7.5 years old). They love to go to Disneyland, as you might know if you’ve ever heard Ms. Stough talking about her weekend trips there. However, Ms. Stough’s favorite destination is Costa Rica, as it’s fun and outdoorsy while also stress-free without intense planning and strict schedules.

With the unique ability to help with anyone who enters her classroom, Ms. Stough’s passion for helping people and teaching math to all of her students makes her the wonderful teacher that she is. So if you ever see her outside of B3 near the back gate, make sure to say hi (using the correct pronunciation!).