Meyer works hard to help both students and staff here at TJ. photo by Emanuel Morales-Gomez
TJ’s favorite math teacher makes her move into administration.
After fourteen years of teaching math at Thomas Jefferson, Suzanne Meyer is moving on up. Having spent her whole life in Colorado’s school systems, Meyer has had plenty of experience with what it means to be a student in Colorado. Meyer ended up in TJ’s math department after six years of teaching at other schools. As one of the most beloved members of TJ’s math team, she has helped countless students solve problems, learn various skills, and try out new ideas. Surprisingly, despite Meyer teaching math almost her whole career, she was not a big fan of math as a kid. This was one of the motivations that drove her to teach math in the first place—helping students who struggled, just like her. Meyer has truly enjoyed her time as a teacher at Thomas Jefferson, but, after her many years as a math teacher, she is forging ahead by taking on administrative responsibilities at TJ.
As an administrator in training, Meyer is primarily learning how the TJ admin system works, and seeing what being an administrator is like first hand. She has been working with athletics, discipline, the teaching staff, and the testing faculty to learn about what this role could entail. She’s excited for the change, though. “I think I’m to a point in my career where I’m ready for that next step, and being an admin would be the next step,” says Meyer, “I’m just getting a little bit of everything.”
Don’t worry, though—Meyer isn’t going anywhere. “I really like working at TJ,” she says, “It’s like a family here. Everyone knows everyone….[and] the connections I’ve made through coaching and teaching math,” are Meyer’s favorite parts of working here. “I just love what TJ and the staff and students have to offer everyone.” Before ending up at TJ, Meyer taught one year at Mandalay Middle School and five years at Montebello High School. “I decided that I wanted a job that was more stable, so I applied to Lincoln High School and Thomas Jefferson.” Meyer recounted, “I interviewed for Thomas Jefferson and…they hired me.” Even though she did not intend to end up at TJ, she says she loves it and she wants to spend the rest of her career here—whether that means as a teacher or an administrator.
On top of her new admin work, Meyer also coaches the flag football team, and both the boys’ and girls’ swim teams. Under Meyer’s leadership, TJ’s flag football team is now part of the Colorado High School Activities Association—the first time TJ’s flag football has been acknowledged as a CHSAA sport. Meyer works alongside assistant coach and teacher Abby Griffin to inspire, teach, and uplift both of her teams while still pushing everyone to do their best. She works to cultivate a good atmosphere in practices and during games so that students both love the sport and are motivated to play well.
While Meyer has been coaching the boys’ and girls’ swim teams for a while, things are changing this year. Meyer is shifting from being an assistant coach to being the head coach for both teams, taking over the role from former head coach, Taylor Hurney. TJ Social Studies teacher Jessica Amador is stepping into the assistant coach role for the first time this upcoming season. Overall, Meyer is hoping to build a cohesive and tight-knit swim team. While swimming is mostly a time-based individual sport, swim meets are determined by how well the team does as a whole in their races. As a result, Meyer wants to improve everyone’s times so the whole team can succeed. “I’m hoping, you know, to help the girls and boys grow in their individual times but also, as a team hopefully, win some more meets,” Meyer said. Because flag football is a fall sport and swimming is a winter sport, Meyer spends most of her evenings coaching. Her only regret is, “Sometimes the days are really long. I miss out on family time.”
Even with all these new responsibilities, Meyer still finds time for herself and her family. Outside of sports and swimming, Meyer enjoys reading—specifically thriller and mystery novels. Most important to her, though, is spending time with her husband and sons. They like spending time outdoors together, especially activities like kayaking, camping, swimming and hiking.
Meyer is an asset to the TJ community, whether that be in the math department, through the coaching staff, or in her new administrative role. TJ is lucky to have such a dedicated individual to have as an honorary Spartan.
