Robens, Kathleen

Name: Kathleen Robens
Department: Math
Education: Majored in math at the University of New Mexico, certified to teach math
Came to Blair: in 2004
Previous Jobs: professional modern dancer, director of a regional dance company for approximately 15 years in New York, math teacher at Rosa Parks Middle School in Rockville for over 15 years
Hobbies: dancing, gardening, sketching portraits and compiling short, personal stories

Math teacher Kathleen Robens is a new and welcome face at Blair. She has the slim body of a dancer and a personality that conveys her exuberance. She smiles excitedly, yet thoughtfully, as she reflects upon her life. "I used to catch lizards when I was a kid in the mesas," Robens remembers of her childhood in Albuquerque in the midst of the New Mexican desert.

Robens' inspiration to teach math came while she was in seventh grade. She was inspired by her math teacher, who would always be accessible, read stories to the class and always wear matching-colored outfits. "I wanted to get purple leather shoes," she says, remembering the teacher's Purple Day.

But Robens was also inspired by her childhood dance teacher. She was impressed by how high this 63-year-old woman with silver hair past her hips could kick her legs. Robens pursued to study dance throughout college, even while seeking a major in math at the University of New Mexico.

Eventually, Robens moved to New York to do modern dance professionally. She later became the director of a regional dance company while there, and remained so for about 15 years. Robens draws parallels between dance and math especially. "They are both very beautiful," she says. Both require "independence and self-discipline," but there is also "lots of room for creativity." "I try to be extremely broadly based in the way I see the world," she adds. "I try to pull in from anything and everything."

Later, Robens moved to Rockville, Maryland, where she taught math for over 15 years at Rosa Parks Middle School, but she had always wanted to teach math in high school. "It's an excuse to keep learning," she says.

Robens sees teaching as "a nice balance between working together and working independently." She loves the interaction between the students and the teacher. If there is anything that she regrets about teaching, however, it is that "there is not enough time with individual students."

Self-expression is fundamental to the way Robens live, whether in the classroom, in the dance studio or private life. One of her favorite things about teaching is "the creativity you can use to help students learn more easily." She also gardens and sketches portraits, and her husband is a writer and blue grass fiddler, and runs a custom framing business. Together, they are compiling a collection of personal short stories. Robens and her husband have two sons, a senior and sophomore at Walter Johnson High School. They live happily in Rockville, a far cry from the lonely mesas of Albuquerque.