Sandy Gokey earned a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and Mathematics from Clarkson University in 1984 and an M.Ed. in Counseling and Human Development from St. Lawrence University that same year. She worked in human services and taught evening math courses until realizing that teaching mathematics was a wonderful way to combine her interest in working with people with her interest in mathematics. She went on to earn an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Vermont (1987) and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1993). Sandy taught at the University of Vermont, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Smith College and Keene State College before joining the Greenfield Community College (GCC) faculty in 1999. Sandy has taught developmental math, math for liberal arts, statistics, algebra, math for elementary education, precalculus, calculus I and II, multivariate calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, and a variety of higher level math courses. What Sandy especially enjoys about GCC is that her teaching is not limited to the classroom as it would be in most colleges. Years ago, Sandy and several others took a small idea (that faculty could work with students outside their own classes) and turned that idea into a vibrant community of learning. What once was a few students and faculty occasionally working together in a small conference room is now “The Math Studio,” a large airy space devoted exclusively to students working on math with the support of all math faculty, not just their own individual instructors. When she’s not teaching, Sandy can usually be found in the Math Studio working one on one with students from a large variety of math courses.

Growing up, I was surrounded by math. My dad is a math teacher, my mom is an accountant, and my grandfather was an engineer. Despite all of this exposure (or maybe because of it?), I was always intimidated by math and never considered myself very good at it. When I went to Ithaca College as a biology major, part of my early course work included Calculus. To my shock and amazement, I loved it! I decided then that I wanted to help other people discover how fun and amusing and amazing math could really be. So I thought, “Maybe I’ll become a teacher.” In the years that followed I received two more degrees and taught math in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and universities. I came to GCC in 2010 and have loved being here! I get to teach a wide variety of courses, work with a student population that is eager to learn, and collaborate with passionate and creative colleagues. What more could a teacher want?!?!