The Surprising Side of Andrew Sheridan

The 9th through 11th grade geometry teacher Andrew Sheridan is known for taking the basics of geometry and making it fun and challenging for his students. While he said that being a geometry teacher can be challenging, “It is very rewarding to see the students succeed.”

Yet he has another role of which students might be unaware. Sheridan also drives Bus 39 on a route that picks up students from Carysbrook Elementary and Fluvanna County Middle School. If you think driving a bus is noisy and makes it hard to concentrate, you’d be right. “The craziest time of the year is at the beginning of the school year, learning every stop, students’ names, and driving the bus safely,” he said. Yet according to freshman Sarah Akers, “[Sheridan] does have a lot of distractions on the bus from people screaming to throwing stuff around. He does an amazing job keeping all of this in order while driving but still crack jokes with the students.”

There are many challenges in life, and being a teacher can be a lot harder than many people realize. Sheridan described one of the hardest obstacles he has overcome in his teaching career. “I worked at the Abrams Academy for many years and was asked to come to FCHS mid-year to take over for another teacher. That was a very difficult situation which took a lot of patience and hard work,” he said.

However, he said “the most rewarding part for me is when a student struggling on a topic finally hits the ‘I got it’ moment.” Senior Joshua Akers had just such an experience.  “I was struggling with a certain subject and I asked for help and Sheridan helped me with what I needed and more,” he said.

Some teachers can be a little lax with their classroom rules while others are strict. Sheridan has his own ideal rules for the classroom. “I would say that students know what I expect and they know that I will be fair with them as long as they are giving me their best work. I believe that my students also know that I will work to help them learn and we will have fun doing it,” he said.”Outside of school hours, Sheridan says,“ I run a decent amount, watch movies, fish, hunt, watch football, lift weights, and keep it real.” Sheridan is married with kids, but prefers to keep his personal life private.