Students and colleagues pay tribute to Mr. Badoian

Within hours of the announcement of his passing late last month, the remembrances began pouring in online. Dozens of former students and colleagues, spanning multiple generations and time zones, flocked to Facebook to pay tribute to the late, great Martin “Marty” Badoian — the legendary CHS math teacher, coach and force of nature who defined educational excellence in Canton over the past six decades.

Marty Badoian pictured in front of the board in a 1965 CHS yearbook photo

On the Friends of Martin J. Badoian memorial page, there are photographs, letters, video tributes, even a hand-drawn portrait attesting to the brilliance of a man who many regard as the greatest teacher — high school, college or beyond — that they have ever known.

“I always said that I wished he was my teacher for every class,” wrote CHS alumna Rima Zikas, now a physical therapy specialist in Seattle. “He made you think and work hard. I remember staying up late, working hard, yet loving and being passionate about learning. I don’t think I have felt like that since. He brought that out of a person. I feel so fortunate that he molded and made me the person I am today. I feel like most of his students would agree.”

Badoian, 90, passed away peacefully at home on October 27 with his family at his side. He had been battling cancer for the past several months but continued coming to school until he was no longer physically able to, officially relinquishing his teaching duties this past September but maintaining his role as CHS math team coach. According to a timeline of his life posted with his obituary, Badoian had never missed school for an illness prior to last May, and his only other absences over a 60-plus year career were for emergency surgical procedures — after which he would “direct class content from his hospital bed in the ICU.”

Badoian, according to CHS Principal Derek Folan, was universally loved and revered and will be “so deeply missed.”

“He had a gift to teach and capture the passion of his students,” said Folan. “Even though he was battling cancer, he came to work on the first day of school this year and he had such joy in his eyes and his face. He loved being at Canton High School. He loved his classroom. He loved working with his students and his colleagues. He loved the Canton community. And we loved him. He transformed students’ lives for six decades. Simply remarkable.”

Raised in humble circumstances in Nashua, New Hampshire, Badoian’s work ethic as a young man was also the stuff of legend — a trait that he attributed to his mother, Rose. After graduating from Nashua High School he enlisted in the Army and served in Japan immediately following World War II. He subsequently enrolled at Brown University on the GI Bill and graduated with a degree in mathematics. Although short in stature, he played basketball while at Brown and served as captain of the team in his senior season. He also led his high school team to a New Hampshire state title and went on to coach the sport at several stops as a teacher, including an eight-year stint as coach of the Bulldogs in the 1960s and early 70s.

Yet his greatest coaching achievements were in the arena of mathematics, as founder and longtime coach of the vaunted CHS math team. After placing third in a field of 55 teams in its inaugural year in 1965, the Badoian-led team went on to win the next three state and New England championships, thus establishing Canton as a regional powerhouse and beginning a run of dominance that has continued well into the 21st century (including state and regional titles in both 2015 and 2016). The timeline included with Badoian’s obituary notes that the Canton math team’s green took on a “Celtics flair” as it became the team to beat. “In lieu of banners hanging in the rafters, a large trophy case overflowed at the entrance to the math department’s Building C. Mr. Badoian’s commanding presence in his signature green sports coat became legendary among math competitors across New England.”

While no doubt proud of their math team accomplishments, most of the tributes from former students have focused on the camaraderie and sense of belonging that Badoian fostered — through team dinners, marathon study sessions, and on nights and weekends working the concession stands at CHS football games and Patriots games and concerts at Foxboro stadium.

Many also highlighted the important life lessons they gleaned from Mr. Badoian — lessons about perseverance, dedication, empathy, problem solving, and the value of hard work.

Mr. Badoian with Dasol Lee (CHS ’17), who wrote about her favorite teacher in an essay contest in 2015

“He was not only a teacher; he was a coach, in every sense of the word,” recalled Sung Ahn, now a student at Harvard. “He pushed us students to be the better versions of ourselves, while simultaneously focusing on the idea that ‘grades don’t matter; it’s what’s up here [pointing to his head] that matters.’ As a result of his actions, I still remember all of my squares up to 30, all the cubes up to 10, all the powers of 2 … I learned that numbers aren’t meant for eating (‘What are you going to do, eat it?’), ‘over’ is not a substitute for ‘divided by,’ and the ‘preview of coming attractions’ never ended. There was always more to learn, more to explore.”

Former student Julie MacDonald said she’s always felt lucky to have had Mr. Badoian as a teacher for four years. She recently came across some journals she had kept in high school and found an entry in which she recounted a compliment she received from Mr. Badoian about her persistence and how it made her feel hopeful about the future and the coming year. “The coming year was senior year,” she wrote, “and Mr. Badoian not only made me hopeful, but he provided so many opportunities — for leadership roles, scholarship awards, work experience, and team building activities throughout the year. I am so grateful to have had such a dedicated teacher, cheerleader and mentor during my high school years, and his lessons about work ethic and persistence have stayed with me.”

Carol Levy Fishman, a Class of 1978 alumna, remembered wanting to drop his class after getting a D on her first test as a freshman — until Mr. Badoian ran into her mother at the bank and made it clear that Carol would not be giving up so soon.

“‘You tell her to come after school for extra help and she will be fine,’ [he said], and that’s exactly what I did and it’s how he and I became so close,” noted Levy Fishman. “But what he taught me was way more important than Algebra. He taught me to never give up even if something is difficult. He taught me to work even harder to achieve my goals. And I am forever grateful for that life lesson.”

Several of Badoian’s students also came to appreciate how he graded tests. As Josh Simons explained it, “All of his students know that a zero was the most coveted score, since Marty counted errors, not correct answers. He assumed perfection and only quantified your deviation from that state. He set a high bar and had high expectations, the anvil and hammer that forged many fine people over the years.”

Yet even when they did not perform up to his expectations, Mr. Badoian made it clear that he still “loved them,” a fact that Efrat Kussell learned firsthand in the spring of her sophomore year. Kussell, who went on to become a middle school math teacher and is now an administrator at a charter school in Brooklyn, recalled hearing those comforting words after struggling on a trigonometry test and bursting into tears.

“Everything he taught us,” she said, “whether it was how to be the best thinkers out there or how to mop the floors at Foxboro (an expert skill from his Army days) or how to be a person who always demonstrates complete integrity, all of it was taught out of love. He cared about his students more than any other teacher I have ever known; not only about our academic success, but also about making us feel like we belonged.”

Tara Shuman, who also went on to become a teacher, remarked that Mr. Badoian taught her “more than [she] could ever rightfully articulate.” “He taught me how to face a problem, break it down, and not give up until I found a solution,” she said. “He taught me that hard work and preparation are the keys to success. He will always be one of the most impactful teachers of my life and the grit he taught me still helps guide me through life’s challenges. I will be forever grateful to have been a student in his classroom.”

In addition to teaching and inspiring generations of students, Badoian also did the same for countless colleagues over the years. As CHS math department chairperson from 1959 to 2004, he brought that same blend of toughness and compassion that he had perfected in his classroom to his evaluations and interactions with math department faculty.

“Marty was a dedicated teacher, a mentor and a friend,” remarked veteran teacher Maureen Brids Peloquin, who grew close with Badoian and his wife, Linda, over the years. “He had high standards for his students, his staff and himself. He has touched many lives and will be greatly missed. In the time that I have known Marty, he has been my boss, my counsel, my colleague, and my loyal friend.”

Christine Joyce Fichera, who was a student of Badoian’s and later became a colleague of his for a stretch in the mid 2000s, noted how Badoian began employing a problem-based curriculum decades before it became fashionable in math education circles. “He never used textbooks,” she recalled. “The most vivid memories that I have of working in the math department with him involve watching Marty sit in the staff room, often with a bag of Cheetos, intently writing new math problems for his students to solve. Each problem was better than the ones he had used the year before. Thinking about math in a new, clever way filled him with glee.”

Don Devoid, the current math department coordinator, worked alongside Badoian for the last 12 years of his career and made an effort to observe him as much as he could. And Badoian, he realized, “didn’t just teach mathematics; he taught how to improve oneself intellectually and emotionally.”

“When I was first hired at CHS in 2006, I remember being told about Marty and what an amazing teacher he was,” said Devoid. “I made it a point to observe him during my first week. As I left his classroom I recall thinking to myself that I had an ‘infinite mountain to climb’ to reach the quality of a teacher he was.

“He truly was the greatest teacher I ever met.”

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=45023

Posted by Jay Turner on Nov 10 2018. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.