COCOA, Fla. — Brevard County A+Teacher Jolette McDonald has a knack for using music to motivate her students.

"Songs stick," she said. "I know when I'm driving to school and a Prince song comes on, it brings me back to 20 years ago. So I know if I can make it into a song, the kids are going to remember the words to the song."

What You Need To Know

  • Jolette McDonald is a teacher at Cocoa High School  

  • McDonald was drawn to teaching math after a customer's surprising question when McDonald worked as a grocery store clerk  

  • To nominate an A+Teacher, fill out this form, or email us at teachers@charter.com

McDonald is also proud to be a military veteran. She spent eight years in the Florida Army National Guard, but these days she's serving in the classroom at Cocoa High School. A parent nominated her, writing to Spectrum News 13 to say, "She's a wonderful teacher and really gives it everything she's got."

We caught up with McDonald teaching a geometry lesson to ninth and 10th graders and belting out a little song and dance to break it down.

She said, "I've been singing for the whole 20 years of my career. I'm not embarrassed when I sing."

McDonald has to hit the right notes. She has a lot of responsibilities as the instructional math coach helping the other math teachers at the school, as they support some 1,400-plus students.

"I would rather perform in front of students," McDonald added with a smile. "Some teachers have said, 'Why don't you make videos and put them on YouTube?'  And I keep telling them that I perform live."

McDonald said an incident nearly 20 years ago sparked her interest in teaching when she was working as a cashier at a grocery store.

"What was the big light bulb for me was when someone came up and held two half-gallons of milk and said, 'How many of these does it take to make a gallon?' " McDonald said. "I was blown away." 

McDonald never forgot it.

"Someone, somewhere along their lines of education failed them, and I wanted to be that person who could help them understand math," she said. 

It might take time, but finding the way that students learn is the key.

"You see it, you say it, you sing it," McDonald said. "To  (help students) understand the material, you have to teach it in so many different ways. This is actually the high school I graduated from back in 1995, and this is where I feel I belong."