It is just like any other school day.

Mr. Joe Ordinans walks into school, opens his classroom door covered in jokes, and prepares himself for another day of teaching ahead.

Ordinans is a math teacher at Homestead High School and has been for many years. However, many may not know about the start of his teaching career or really anything about his life outside of school for that matter.

35. The number of years Ordinans has been teaching. He started as a student teacher and now teaches many math classes at Homestead High School.

“My favorite class to teach is Honors Geometry,” Ordinans said.

16. The number of years Ordinans taught computer science. He taught it for all of his years at Waukesha and then three years at Homestead.

“I am certified in both math and computers,” Ordinans explained.

1984. The year he first started teaching. He has taught at 3 different schools; 1 semester at Waukesha South, 13 years student teaching at Waukesha North, and 21 years at Homestead. Ordinans started teaching at Homestead in 1998.

“I wanted to help students not just understand math, but also enjoy math,” Ordinans said about wanting become a teacher.

25. The number of clocks Ordinans has accumulated over the years. Those who have had him as a teacher know that he collects many different types of clocks. He buys some, while others have been given to him over the years.

“I was fascinated with clocks since I learned how to tell time as a child. I have been collecting them for most of my adult life,” Ordinans said.

17. The number of years that Ordinans has been a boys cross country coach. He coached in Waukesha for 11 years and he then at Homestead for 6 years.

“I wanted to coach cross country because I was a cross country runner in high school. I enjoyed it very much,” Ordinans said.

⅔. The amount of the United States has been visited by Ordinans. He is unsure as to what state is his favorite, but he wishes to travel throughout the United States more in the future.

“There is so much that I have not seen in this country, I want to see the United States in more detail,” Ordinans stated. He may even be adding this to his bucket list!

1. The number of times Ordinans has jumped out of a plane. He did this 20 years ago as a static line jump which means his parachute opened as soon as he got out of the plane.

“It is just something I always wanted to try,” Ordinans said.

20. The number of years Ordinans has been having his Calculus students write to younger students in the elementary schools. He started it in Waukesha and did it for 5 years with the elementary school across the street. Ordinans then brought it to Homestead for 15 years and had his students write to people at Homestead.

“That grade school was right across the street from the high school [in Waukesha]. So, it was very easy for us, at the end of the year, to walk across the street and let the big kids meet the little kids,” Ordinans said.

Mr. Ordinans has had a very full life thus far; however, numbers should never sum up a person… unless you are a math teacher, of course!