From sales to math education: How a community collaboration opened a career pathway

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Donald Yates III stands at the front of his classroom writing geometric equations and examples on the dry-erase board as he goes over test results with his 10th grade honors geometry students.

“Everyone got that one right,” he says as he ticks through the test questions. “Scores were really good across the board.”

When he gets to a question that many students did not answer correctly, he walks through it step by step with the students.

Yates is a math paraeducator at Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School on Indianapolis’ east side. He is enrolled at Purdue Global pursuing a Bachelor of Science in professional studies and participating in a math teacher apprenticeship program through a partnership with MathTrack Institute.

The collaboration is an initiative by Purdue Global to offer an educational solution to the ongoing shortage of qualified math educators in Indiana. Eli Lilly and Company Foundation (Lilly Foundation) is providing a charitable grant to Purdue Global to support its efforts related to this initiative.

Achieving a 20-year goal

Teaching math comes naturally to Yates, who says it was his strength growing up.

“Once I started working in schools, I realized I really enjoyed working with students, and I knew teaching is what I wanted to do. Math comes easy to me,” he said.

Yates teaches two 10th grade honors geometry and two 11th grade honors Algebra II classes, in addition to two electives, each day.

When Yates learned of the collaboration that could help fulfill his dream of becoming a fully licensed math teacher, he signed up.

“This allows me to not only earn my degree but also to become a fully licensed math teacher. I have been working in education for a while but completing this journey will allow me to accomplish a goal I started 20-plus years ago,” he said.

Prior to teaching, Yates worked in sales and the financial industry. As part of his degree program, Yates is utilizing credits for his prior learning and professional experience.

Back in the classroom, Yates is a cheerleader for his students, continually encouraging them on the importance of detail and how to use geometry and algebra in real-world applications.

“I always use this classroom as an example,” he said to the students as he taught about surface area. “You would use this formula to figure out how much drywall you would need.”

Transformative and far-reaching benefits

Yates is taking two classes at a time and is on track to graduate in October 2026 from the program.

Evenings can be hectic as he is grading his students’ homework and completing his assignments. As a teacher, he has learned to provide more grace to his students, something he is keenly more aware of now, especially as a student himself.

“There’s a lot of grace, just making sure that I treat them the same way I would want to be treated,” Yates said.

His students know he is pursuing a degree and an apprenticeship. He’s using it as a lesson for them to help pursue their dreams and education, a journey he started 24 years ago.

“I get to know the students by asking what they want to do after high school and what their goals are for the next four or five years,” he said. “When you’re in an educational setting, giving them hope that there is something past high school is a big deal.”

The MathTrack apprenticeship involves him being mentored by area math teachers and Tindley’s principal and assistant principal on teaching skills, subject mastery, classroom management and organization.

And with family ties to Purdue University — his father-in-law and niece are alumni, and his oldest son is a current Purdue student in Indianapolis — he sees this as a winning solution for everyone.

“The program has been really good to me and for me. It has opened doors for me and shown me some things about myself that I didn’t know,” Yates said. “Not only will this be a blessing professionally, but also personally and for my family.”

About Purdue Global

Purdue Global is Purdue’s online university for working adults who have life experience and often some college credits. It offers flexible paths for students to earn an associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, military service and previous college credits, no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and backed by Purdue University. For more information, visit https://www.purdueglobal.edu.