The sum of success: This teacher has helped countless students learn to love math

CBC Quebec is highlighting people from the province's Black communities who are giving back, inspiring others and helping to shape our future. These are the 2023 Black Changemakers.

For Alix Adrien, becoming a Changemaker began decades ago, when he first stood in front of a class full of students, scribbling equations on the blackboard.

"Sir, when you teach math, you're like a little kid having fun," he recalls one student telling him. "When you're so passionate and you're bubbling — it becomes contagious."

Adrien worked in the Quebec school system for decades, first as a teacher, but then as an administrator. Even before he took on his latest role, at the helm of the Quebec Board of Black Educators (QBBE) — a group dedicated to helping Black youth thrive academically — he saw the payoff of helping a student struggling in math or physics.

"I'd find out years later that they would come back, and they were teachers with a Masters teaching mathematics," he said fondly. "You don't judge a book by its cover. But you don't judge a book by the first few chapters, neither."

"We, over a career, get to impact the lives of so many of our children."

A beacon for Black youth

Rachel Diotte-Lyles, who works with Adrien at the QBBE, said she has witnessed the impact he's had on students — and wishes she'd had a teacher like him when she was young.

"Personally, I was terrible at math," she said, laughing.

"I didn't know where to go for that kind of support when I was in high school or to find support within my community in academics. So I think it's really important."

Adrien said an important part of the QBBE's work happens outside of the classroom — working with school administrators, for example, to advocate for Black students who have been treated unfairly.

"I've seen too many times where the disciplinary measures that were handed out to the Black child were much harsher than they should have been," he said. He draws on his own experience as a school principal — and on his knowledge of the community — to help administrators understand the cultural context in which their students find themselves.

Adrien recalled when a school called youth protection services to investigate a Black family when a mother left her child with other family members to go to Jamaica for the winter — a practice that is not uncommon in that community, he said.

"We're not coming down gun blazing," he said. "But we provide an understanding."

Friends have told Adrien, who is now 63, he "gives retirement a bad name," since he has no plans to slow down. Helping students learn is the thing he loves most, he says.

"I'm doing something that is dear to me," he said. "I think it can be challenging, but ultimately it needs to be done."

The Black Changemakers is a special series recognizing individuals who, regardless of background or industry, are driven to create a positive impact in their community. From tackling problems to showing small gestures of kindness on a daily basis, these changemakers are making a difference and inspiring others. Meet all the changemakers here.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.