Neeta Mandsager: Math teacher Neeta Mandsager educates her students about her Indian Culture

Standing at the whiteboard at Eisenhower Middle School in Kansas City, Kansas in 2005, math teacher Neeta Mandsager felt hurt. She was hurt by the students putting their feet on the desks. Hurt by students talking when she was. Hurt by students calling her by her first name, not ma’am.

Standing at the whiteboard at Eisenhower Middle School in Kansas City, Kansas in 2005, math teacher Neeta Mandsager felt hurt. She was hurt by the students putting their feet on the desks. Hurt by students talking when she was. Hurt by students calling her by her first name, not ma’am.

She had just moved to Kansas from Northern India, where teachers were seen as gurus. She was used to teachers being treated with the utmost respect as they were the ones giving knowledge. This meant calling them “ma’am” or “sir” not by their name — first or last — and not being able to talk as freely to teachers as students do here.

Though Mandsager has adjusted over time to these cultural changes, she still carries her culture with her through her teaching.

Mandsager first moved to the United States in 2005 from India after her husband had the idea to move since it was his dream and her family followed them.

She began working in Kansas City, Kansas, then Topeka, Kansas and eventually came to East.

She had to quickly adapt to the abundance of technology in the States compared to the minimal amount in India. She also had to get used to the change in effort students put in. In India, students paid for their education so they tended to try harder than students in the States.

“When I used to teach [in India], everything was on the board,” Mandsager said. “Here we use the iPad, MacBook and the resources are there, students have so many online courses.”

One of the biggest surprises when she got to East was how welcoming the school was and finding people who also shared her culture.

Junior Ishya Bhavsar had Mandsager her freshman year as her Honors Algebra 2 teacher. Ishya was surprised to find someone who shared her Indian culture at East — let alone a teacher. 

“It was really surprising  to have an Indian teacher,” Ishya said. “But, I quickly learned that it’s good to have different sorts of teachers that come from different backgrounds because they can teach you more than just the subject.”

Ishya’s parents met with Mandsager at parent-teacher conferences and created a connection. Now, the Bhavsars invite Mandsager and her family over to celebrate Diwali every year.

“In India, usually you’d get school off for the entire week [for Diwali], but you don’t really get that luxury here,” Ishya said. “So my parents love inviting as many people as they know.”

Along with celebrating traditional Indian holidays in the States, Mandsager makes a point to pray every day, whether it means making time before school or before bed after her shift working at Target. She lights her diya in front of a god just like she did in India.

Before traditional holidays Mandsager will often remind her students they’re coming up saying things such as “Remember Diwali is in two days guys!” when starting class to let students know about upcoming events in her culture. 

She also uses her culture to teach students, popping into World Regional Studies rooms to talk to the class about India and her culture. 

“[The World Regional Studies students] were so happy and I don’t know those students, but when they saw me in the hallway they’d say, ‘Oh I went to this restaurant and I ate this’,” Mandsager said. “They were talking with me and telling me about that so that was really cool.

Sophomore Shubra Durgavathi also had Mandsager her freshman year for Honors Algebra 2, sharing Bhavsars excitement of having a teacher from her culture.

“I remember the first day she was giving everyone a high five and then she literally grabs my hand and goes ‘You’re Indian, oh my god!’, and then lets me walk into the classroom,” Shubra said.

Mandsager would also sometimes speak Hindi in class to Shubra when students were making fun of Mandsager’s accent or saying they couldn’t understand her, making inside jokes.

“At one point, she was tired of [student’s comments], and it was a review day so she wasn’t teaching so she spent a lot of that class speaking in Hindi,” Shubra said.

For Mandsager, she was thankful to have someone who shared her culture in her class and created cultural bonds through teaching.

“You feel really good about [having someone from your culture], it gives you a feel of your country,” Mandsager said.

She had just moved to Kansas from Northern India, where teachers were seen as gurus. She was used to teachers being treated with the utmost respect as they were the ones giving knowledge. This meant calling them “ma’am” or “sir” not by their name — first or last — and not being able to talk as freely to teachers as students do here.

Though Mandsager has adjusted over time to these cultural changes, she still carries her culture with her through her teaching.

Mandsager first moved to the United States in 2005 from India after her husband had the idea to move since it was his dream and her family followed them.

She began working in Kansas City, Kansas, then Topeka, Kansas and eventually came to East.

She had to quickly adapt to the abundance of technology in the States compared to the minimal amount in India. She also had to get used to the change in effort students put in. In India, students paid for their education so they tended to try harder than students in the States.

“When I used to teach [in India], everything was on the board,” Mandsager said. “Here we use the iPad, MacBook and the resources are there, students have so many online courses.”

One of the biggest surprises when she got to East was how welcoming the school was and finding people who also shared her culture.

Junior Ishya Bhavsar had Mandsager her freshman year as her Honors Algebra 2 teacher. Ishya was surprised to find someone who shared her Indian culture at East — let alone a teacher. 

“It was really surprising  to have an Indian teacher,” Ishya said. “But, I quickly learned that it’s good to have different sorts of teachers that come from different backgrounds because they can teach you more than just the subject.”

Ishya’s parents met with Mandsager at parent-teacher conferences and created a connection. Now, the Bhavsars invite Mandsager and her family over to celebrate Diwali every year.

“In India, usually you’d get school off for the entire week [for Diwali], but you don’t really get that luxury here,” Ishya said. “So my parents love inviting as many people as they know.”

Along with celebrating traditional Indian holidays in the States, Mandsager makes a point to pray every day, whether it means making time before school or before bed after her shift working at Target. She lights her diya in front of a god just like she did in India.

Before traditional holidays Mandsager will often remind her students they’re coming up saying things such as “Remember Diwali is in two days guys!” when starting class to let students know about upcoming events in her culture. 

She also uses her culture to teach students, popping into World Regional Studies rooms to talk to the class about India and her culture. 

“[The World Regional Studies students] were so happy and I don’t know those students, but when they saw me in the hallway they’d say, ‘Oh I went to this restaurant and I ate this’,” Mandsager said. “They were talking with me and telling me about that so that was really cool.

Sophomore Shubra Durgavathi also had Mandsager her freshman year for Honors Algebra 2, sharing Bhavsars excitement of having a teacher from her culture.

“I remember the first day she was giving everyone a high five and then she literally grabs my hand and goes ‘You’re Indian, oh my god!’, and then lets me walk into the classroom,” Shubra said.

Mandsager would also sometimes speak Hindi in class to Shubra when students were making fun of Mandsager’s accent or saying they couldn’t understand her, making inside jokes.

“At one point, she was tired of [student’s comments], and it was a review day so she wasn’t teaching so she spent a lot of that class speaking in Hindi,” Shubra said.

For Mandsager, she was thankful to have someone who shared her culture in her class and created cultural bonds through teaching.

“You feel really good about [having someone from your culture], it gives you a feel of your country,” Mandsager said.