McAuliffe’s math department has a not-so-secret weapon. A joke-telling weapon. An absolutely crazy face-making weapon…Mr. Bret Lynes.

Lynes began his path as a flight instructor, teaching people how to fly aircrafts. Later, he became a marine meteorologist. As a marine meteorologist, one communicates with ships and submarines to provide weather advisories or other weather-related warnings. After this job, he began his shift into education. He also has three daughters attending McAuliffe: Elise, Nina and Sophie Lynes. They are all eighth graders.

Mr. Lynes started his teaching career in 1998, when he began teaching at a school in Irvine. His choice to teach was partly fueled by his background in science. When he first arrived at McAuliffe, he taught math and science, but when the new science curriculum was introduced three years ago, he stopped teaching science and now focuses only on math. This year, he is exclusively teaching Algebra 1 and eighth-grade level math.

All in all, Lynes’ favorite part about teaching is the “energy and enthusiasm of young people.” Also, he enjoys instructing his students and he really cares about what his students think. Gavin Mack, a McAuliffe eighth-grader, enjoys “how entertaining he is.” He also stated, “he makes class not boring.”