Regan Sparks

Dorsey teaches his third-period geometry class on Thursday, April 9. “I enjoy that [the students] are willing to get up, work at the whiteboards and collaborate,” Dorsey said.

To understand the gift of connecting with people who uplift others is one that many spend their lives chasing, but few would find the answers in a high school math classroom. In his 30-year career, math teacher Dan Dorsey has achieved something wonderful that he will carry through his next steps at St. Louis Priory School. 

Before coming to work at Clayton, Dorsey had a 23-year career at Lindbergh High School, where he taught math and coached soccer. The opportunity to restart elsewhere was beneficial. 

“It turned out to be a really terrific move—a change of scenery,” Dorsey said. “When you’re in a place for two decades, you’re familiar with people. I had great relationships with my co-workers, but I could feel myself growing stagnant, and so moving schools was healthy for me. [It was] a very rewarding change.”

While it turned out to be a net positive in the long run, the adjustment period during his first year was challenging because he knew very few students. 

“I felt like a permanent sub. The only people I knew in the building were the people in the math department,” Dorsey said. “[However, it was helpful that] my colleagues were so welcoming. The message the district [gave new teachers] was, ‘We brought you here because we think you can make us better,’ and that was very empowering.”

Additionally, Dorsey emphasizes the tremendous support from parents and community members. 

“I’ve really enjoyed my interactions with Clayton parents, they have been gracious in sharing their gratitude at open houses or parent-teacher conferences. I’m grateful for their support,” Dorsey said.

For Dorsey, teaching became a noble profession with a significant impact—a way to give back to society. 

“I know they won’t remember all the math, [but] I suspect they’ll remember how they were treated. I’ve been blessed to have a lot of very kind, hard-working [and] inspiring students,” Dorsey said. “I was blessed to have teachers who were intelligent, creative, funny, energetic and inspiring, [and] I hope I’ve been able to model some of those things to my students.”

Senior Amelia Lewis had Dorsey as her teacher for Honors Algebra Trigonometry and praised his balance between challenging his students and being a friend and wise mentor. 

“The way he constructed classes, we would always be interacting with every other person in the room. Almost once [per] class, we were in a random group of people standing up around the room,” Lewis said. “It being so interactive and hands-on really helped me stay awake and stay passionate about continuing to learn.”

Lewis appreciates his teaching style, which usually involved presenting the class with a new problem at the start of a unit and trusting that they could reason their way through—providing guidance when it was needed. 

“It was a really great approach. It helped me remember more because I wasn’t just passively listening, I was actively pushing through the problem,” Lewis said.

Sophomore Sabrina Perng similarly valued Dorsey’s unique approach to conveying ideas during Honors Algebra Trigonometry.

“I like the flexibility and the self-exploration we can do with how he teaches. He gives us the material and sees how much we can find out about it ourselves. Because of the environment—the flexibility and freedom we get—I think we’re more comfortable to be a little bit less tense [and] be a little bit more present,” Perng said. “The way that his teaching has impacted my growth is [in] teaching me how to be independent in how I learn things, and teaching me to collaborate with others.”

Lewis also appreciated his attitude outside of teaching. 

“He was so friendly with everybody, and so obviously invested in everybody [and] their well-being,” Lewis said. “Especially the fact he’s one of the few teachers who still seems enthusiastic to see me even two or three years later—that’s awesome.”

Dorsey was math teacher Alex Schwent’s instructor for his Honors Algebra II class when he was a student at Lindbergh High School. Schwent believes that Dorsey is a great role model for patience, thoughtfulness and lesson planning.

“He brings a calm, relaxed demeanor to it all. I think a lot of students like Mr. Dorsey, because he’s honest and patient and he values everything that they bring to the table. That allows them to feel comfortable and contribute to a safe learning environment,” Schwent said. 

Dorsey has been spearheading one of the methods of teaching the math department is exploring, an idea that comes from the book “Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics” by Peter Liljedahl, about getting students moving around the classroom space and working vertically on whiteboards. This method makes their work more visible to the room and encourages collaboration. 

“He never gets flustered, he never gets overwhelmed, he never gets caught. He is always steady, dependable [and] ready for whatever happens next, and it’s because of the thoughtfulness he puts into creating the lesson that he knows what to expect,” Schwent said.

Most of all, Dorsey learned through his time as a teacher that he is still learning, and that is a lesson he will carry with him far beyond Clayton. Additionally, Dorsey emphasizes the importance of relationship-building and learning from those around you. 

“The gift of being a teacher is that I’m still challenged to get better, year in and year out. I feel like there’s still the challenge of improving. I’m going to be a lifelong learner,” Dorsey said. “Recognizing that the gifts and the strength that other people bring that they can share that help you become better—that’s a great gift.”

After Clayton, Dorsey will be moving to teach at St. Louis Priory School. The main drive behind the switch was his desire to teach at a school that aligned with his beliefs. 

“I’d really like to teach in [a] Catholic high school. I have an interest in accompanying other people on their faith journey’s, so I’m looking forward to that. For me, personally, the faith aspect [makes] a huge difference. I’m looking forward to that free expression of faith,” Dorsey said.

Lewis, Perng and Schwent’s final messages to Dorsey are:

“Thank you. He made algebra a lot of fun. Algebra is the math subject I feel most confident in to this day. Part of the reason was I enjoyed both his teaching and just his presence as a teacher. He was always a really kind figure [and] a really helpful person,” Lewis said. 

Perng is thankful for the flexibility and the freedom Dorsey provided in the classroom. “We learn[ed] how we can help others. I hope you run into more students who can do stuff with that. Thank you for bringing something new and for letting us run with it. [P.S.] You’re still on that side of the steak meter,” Perng said. 

Schwent wants to remind Dorsey not to be changed by the environment he is going into. “Bring your expertise there, bring your style [and] keep trying new things. It’s amazing that in his last five years of teaching, he’s been trying all this new stuff. Building team classrooms like that is such [an] inspiration. Keep bringing that, keep being excited, try new things and keep educating those future math teachers,” Schwent said. 

The lesson Dorsey hopes to leave with his students is that their lives have value and that they should be ready to learn for the rest of their lives. 

“You’ll hear that phrase, ‘you are enough’. There’s truth to that right in the moment, you are enough under human dignity, but you also are hopefully becoming something. You’re evolving right as a person, and you’re going to grow as a person, so be open to the growth that’s going to unfold in your life,” Dorsey said. 

Dorsey hopes his students embrace the mystery of the life ahead of them.

“Be open to the adventure that awaits, embrac[e] it and also be willing to learn from others along the way,” Dorsey said. “Life is about choices; there are many things that are out of our individual control, but we are each empowered to choose to do good, regardless of the choices of others.”