Chelan High math teacher first in state to teach UW Calculus III in high school

CHELAN — Chelan High School math teacher Ken Barnes is the first teacher in Washington to teach the University of Washington's Calculus III class through the UW in the High School program, according to Lake Chelan School District Superintendent Brad Wilson.

Through the program, students take UW courses in their own high school classrooms and earn university credit. Barnes teaches UW precalculus and Calculus I, II and III at Chelan High, Wilson said.

Barnes was one of four longtime teachers in the program featured in a recent UW Continuum College story, "Lessons That Last." Together, the four have more than 80 years of teaching UW courses for the program, according to the story.

Many of his students arrive convinced they aren't "math people," Barnes told the UW. "My job is to encourage and to give them hope," he said. "To show them ways that their brain can understand it."

Chelan High is a Title I school, and many of its students come from low-income households or are learning English, the story notes. A 2023 state law made College in the High School courses free for public high school students.

Barnes told the UW about a former student, Alejandro, who worried that his limited English would hold him back in precalculus. Instead, Alejandro went on to higher-level math, was admitted to the UW and became one of its top engineering students.

"That's a kid who probably didn't know his potential until he took a class like this," Barnes said. "And now we have that state law; it's an opportunity for anybody who wants to try."

Barnes also mentors newer teachers in the program. "In the early days, I had only one or two avenues to teach a certain concept and now I can come at it from multiple angles," he said.

The UW story is at continuum.uw.edu/news-stories/stories/lessons-that-last.