“I consider myself very lucky,” laughed Mrs. Malikov, Shalhevet’s new Pre-Calculus Honors teacher. “I get up in the morning after at most a few hours of sleep and I actually look forward to the day. Very few people do that in life.”

With the school year winding down last spring, Mr. Tranchi, Principal of General Studies, called the then-sophomore class into the Beit Midrash for a meeting concerning the 2010-11 school year class list.  When it came time to announce who would be teaching Pre-Calculus Honors, Mr. Tranchi announced that Ms. Malikov had been hired.

Eight students who had had Ms. Malikov at Maimonides, where she teaches math in the middle school, jumped from their seats and cheer out of excitement.

“She’s a great teacher,” said junior Adam Kellner, a former Maimonides student of Ms. Malikov’s. “She didn’t just spoon-feed us the information, but made us work to understand something.  She really cares for her students.”

Mrs. Malikov is known for her dedication towards work and a strong connection with students.

“She was an incredible teacher and mentor in middle school and I am anxious to see how that will translate for her and her students in the high-school environment,” said junior Eitan Spitzer, who will also be reunited with Mrs. Malikov this coming school year.

Ms. Malikov will be teaching just one class at Shalhevet, and will continue to work fulltime at Maimonides Academy, where she has taught math to  6th- through 8th-graders for more than eight years.

Before moving to America, she taught in a High School in Moscow, Russia. Once she moved to California, she taught at Marlborough High School in Hancock Park for a year before transferring to teach at middle school.

At Maimonides, Ms. Malikov would remain at school until the night hours, sometimes even until 9 at night, grading papers. Every Thursday after school, she allowed students to come to a “Math Club,” where they could seek extra help for an upcoming test, or to review non-understood material from class. Shalhevet students hope that they will be able to access this opportunity, and that her policies will remain close to the same as those from Maimonides.

Mrs. Malikov has been thinking long and hard about this as well.

“That’s what I’m thinking about a lot,” said Mrs. Malikov. “I have not decided quite yet, and I was really hoping that you’re going to help me. I know I’ll have to change a few things in my expectations. I’m not going to decide something and really stick for it; I’d really like to play by the ear and see what works, and see whats best for all of us.”

“I love to see children get rewarding experiences from learning and accomplish something,” Mrs. Malikov added. “I love to see them think and get excited about problems and the logic behind it. I love to come up with interesting questions and see them work on it. There’s so many things I really look forward to in my day.”