Sara Petkovic, a High School Math Teacher at TASIS, began her tenure at the school in 2024 and is currently in her third year of teaching mathematics. In an interview with Teodora Yordanova ’27, Petkovic shared that she teaches IB Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation, Mathematics 2 Core, and Mathematics 3 Core. Beyond her classroom responsibilities, she serves as a dorm parent and is actively involved in the Global Service Program (GSP). Last year, she led the Animal Welfare group for Grade 10 students, and this year she will lead the service trip to Thailand for Grade 11 students. Petkovic’s educational background began in Canada, where she earned undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Physics as well as in Education, followed by a master’s degree in Education. Her teaching career has taken her across the globe: she taught in Colombia for three years and in the United Arab Emirates for seven years before joining TASIS. She describes herself as an international teacher and hopes to call Lugano home for a long time. Her teaching philosophy centers on creating an inclusive and empowering classroom where every student feels seen, valued, and capable. She emphasizes that learning thrives on genuine relationships and that students need to trust their teacher and environment to feel safe enough to learn and grow. This is particularly important in mathematics, where many students arrive believing they are not strong in the subject. Through time and encouragement, she aims to build confidence in all her students, a goal she considers primary regardless of the subject taught.
When asked what she likes most about teaching at TASIS, Petkovic stated that she loves everything about it. She values the very international community of students and teachers where she feels accepted and respected as a professional, and she appreciates the school’s high academic standards, which drive her to do her best. For the current year, she aims to prepare her IB students for their end-of-year-two assessments and to ready herself for upcoming course changes. Petkovic’s inspiration to become a teacher came from her own high school math teacher in Grades 10 and 11, who took a special interest in her, recognized her strong math skills, and helped her feel safe in a math class in a country where she did not yet speak the language well. That supportive experience motivated her to pass the same care and encouragement to her own students. She hopes students remember having a good time and feeling safe in her classroom, because real learning cannot happen without safety. While they may not recall every detail of solving linear equations, she hopes the relationships and problem-solving skills stay with them. Students might be surprised to learn that she is a certified rescue scuba diver and has been a vegetarian for probably longer than most of her students have been alive. She is a big animal rights activist and tries to spread empathy, love, and awareness for animals whenever she can. Teaching in an international community, she says, has been the single best thing that has happened to her professionally and personally, as stepping out of one’s comfort zone beyond home country and familiar culture is how one truly learns about the world.
