Anand Mahadevan

Year: 2016 – Province: Ontario

Certificate of Excellence Recipient

Anand Mahadevan

University of Toronto Schools
371 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario  M5S 2R7

Principal: Rosemary Evans
School telephone: 416-978-3212
School email: info@utschools.ca
School website: http://www.utschools.ca

Subjects and grades taught: Science and biology, grades 10 to 12

Anand Mahadevan encourages young scientists to exercise their innate curiosity and intelligence to the fullest, experiment with new ideas, collaborate with others, embrace their capacity to solve complex problems and pursue their interests with passion.

Teaching approach

Beyond guiding advanced students to academic success, Mr. Mahadevan ensures they become well-rounded individuals, with exemplary communications, time management and collaborative skills. He also develops ways for struggling students to succeed, targeted to their individual needs.

Outstanding achievements

  • Designed and led the development of a two-week summer program, Bright Lights in the Lab, to inspire students to pursue the sciences, neuroscience in particular; sought and attracted scholarship funding for the program so students from all economic backgrounds can attend.
  • Developed a virtual classroom to benefit students during the school year, offer distance learning during the summer, help students who have to miss class for extended periods keep up with their work, and communicate with parents.
  • Creates opportunities for students to generate and then analyze their own data, such as by building a database of their physical measures to learn about human biology and a collection of photos, video interviews and facts about zoo animals to explore biodiversity.
  • Inspired by a student, created an after-school course to help students prepare for a neuroscience contest; students have gone on to win at the local level, nationally and internationally; he later trained students to take over teaching the course.
  • Published a short story that school boards across Canada use to help boys rediscover the joys of reading in middle school and junior high.

Rave reviews

"He has taught me not only the curriculum, but also what it means to be a global citizen by giving me the tools to think critically about the world and the drive to pursue science in an ethical and responsible way."

Former student

"Anand is not only an incredible teacher but is also a supportive partner to us in our son's learning and without a doubt he has played a significant role in our son's success."

Parents of current student