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DR. RYAN KASHA

My name is Dr. Ryan Kasha. Thank you for visiting my webpage here with Valencia College. I look forward to working with you as a potential student. I think anything is possible, and I am a living example of what can happen when you persist at your goals without giving up. Life is not easy, but it takes a lot of fervor to accomplish your goals and endeavors. I struggled with several physical and learning disabilities growing up including being pegged with an IQ of 43 at one point in my life. It was predicted that I would not finish school. The turning point in my life was when I made straight A's for the first time in my eighth grade year. It was also during this year that I realized my talent in mathematics. This was when I saw that any challenge can be overcome, barriers are meant to be broken, and the fight for continuous improvement/learning never stops!

Through a lot of help and support from my dedicated parents and teachers who believed in me, I was able to eventually be mainstreamed into regular classes. I was able to graduate from a rigorous International Studies program as valedictorian of a class of 400 students from my high school. I earned a full scholarship to earn my Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics magna cum laude with a minor in Statistics from Florida Atlantic University (GO OWLS). In addition, I earned a Master of Science degree in Teaching Mathematics, Master of Education degree in Educational Psychology, and an Educational Specialist degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Florida Atlantic University. In addition, I earned my Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, and a Master of Science degree in Modeling and Simulation with a graduate certificate in Instructional Designs for Simulations from University of Central Florida (GO KNIGHTS). Moreover, I earned my doctorate of philosophy in Modeling and Simulation with my dissertation focused on artificial intelligence and learning in mathematics from University of Central Florida.

Throughout my college years and career, I have gained experience in teaching all grade levels including elementary, middle school, and high school grades. In addition, I have volunteered as a mentor at youth centers for Kids in Distress. The majority of my teaching career has been in post-secondary mathematics at the state college level. I have been teaching developmental through college level mathematics at Valencia College since 2004, and I am still going strong! In addition to my teaching, I am a proud mentor in the Horizon Scholar Program with Orange County Public School System here in Central Florida.

I believe that if you are going to do something, do it right!
Put in your best! Put in 150%! To this very day, I carry this forward. I promise all of my students and my fellow colleagues nothing less than my best!

I think math can be learned by anyone. Math is like solving a puzzle and can be a fun challenge! Math is way more than calculations and mechanics. Math is all about discovery, critical thinking, problem solving, and the formation of logic. Math is a way of thinking that transcends science and is applicable in everything we do and appreciate. Math is a subject of beauty due to its inherent logic. I hope as you learn that you will see that math is all about discovery, thinking, and logic formation.