Mr. G Teaches Math, Science, and the LA Kings

Math, science, and the LA Kings. These are some of the subjects you would learn about in Anthony Gutierrez's classroom. Known by many of his students simply as Mr. G, Gutierrez is passionate about both education and the Kings.
Growing up in Paramount, California, Gutierrez first discovered the Kings when he was over at his uncle and aunt's house. His uncle, who was a diehard Philadelphia sports fan, had the Kings and Flyers game on one night while Gutierrez and his brother were staying over.

Gutierrez was drawn in by the speed of the game and asked his uncle if they could ever watch a live game. It wasn't long before him, his dad, his uncle, and his brother were at the Forum in Inglewood taking in a matchup. He doesn't remember much about the game, except that the Kings won, but he was hooked.
Not long after catching his first game, the Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky in a blockbuster trade with the Edmonton Oilers. Although Gutierrez remembers that all the kids at school were abuzz talking about the deal, he recollects that his uncle, the noted Flyers fan, was disgruntled.
"My uncle was kind of mad about it," Gutierrez laughed. "He said, 'man, he should have gone to Philadelphia.'"
But the Great One landed in LA and changed the trajectory of hockey in the United States forever, and further attracted kids like Gutierrez to the sport. If he wasn't already a Kings fan before, he definitely was now.
"I remember distinctly when Gretzky scored his 802nd goal to pass Gordie Howe," he recalled. "I still remember hearing Bob Miller's call. I can still hear that call and I get goosebumps just thinking about it."
Even as he got older, the Kings remained a constant in Gutierrez's life. When the club won the Stanley Cup in 2012, it felt like fulfilment of the heartbreak he endured in 1993, but it was the second championship in 2014 that sticks out for Gutierrez.
"That was the nail-biter," he said. "That double overtime game my chest was hurting. Who was going to score the goal to end the game."
With just over five minutes remaining in double overtime, Alec Martinez broke the deadlock, netting the Kings their second title in three years.
"I was at the Yard House in Long Beach and people were screaming," Gutierrez recalled. "Beer went flying everywhere. I lost my voice."
The next morning, Gutierrez, who was completing his teaching credential at Cal State Dominguez Hills, had to be in the classroom as part of the student teaching component of his program.
"All my students were asking 'are you sick?' and I said 'oh no! and this is why!'" he said. "They knew how much of a hockey fan I was and they were happy. They wanted to share it with me."
Six months after sharing the victory with his students, Gutierrez graduated and was a full-fledged teacher. After working for more than a decade in emergency services, Gutierrez needed a change. He was tired of seeing people die and missing out on spending time with his family.
"Firefighters and first responders, they have a job to do and they do it very well in our community, but they give up their time with families to serve us," he stated. "I thought, for selfish reasons, I can serve my community but in a different capacity."
So after going back to school and finishing his degree in history, Gutierrez got his teaching credential and started serving as a substitute teacher. After doing a few long-term sub assignments for the Cypress School District, Gutierrez got on full-time and is now in his fifth full year of teaching, where he currently teaches sixth grade math and science at Southeast Middle School in South Gate.
It is unmistakeable that Gutierrez loves what he does. Even in the brief telephone interview I had with him, it was clear. The passion he has for teaching and his students was palpable over the line.
For Gutierrez, the most rewarding part of the job, these days, is not when a student has that eureka moment and suddenly understands the lesson, it's when they comes to class.
"It's gotten to the point, where I work, some parents have to leave their kids at home by themselves," he said.
"It's a very working class city and these kids are essentially raising themselves and staying at home with their siblings. And having them come to class and have them spend part of their day with me. I get to be that guiding adult in their life for a few hours on Zoom and that is a very rewarding experience."
Although the pandemic has certainly brought challenges its fair share of challenges to teaching, it has also provided Gutierrez and his students with some opportunities. This past October, Gutierrez had the chance to enroll in the Future Goals program, a join initiative between the NHL and the NHLPA to help students learn about STEM through the lens of the hockey. That was all Gutierrez needed to hear. He was in.

Through online, interactive hockey math games, the Future Goals program allows Gutierrez to teach his students about how things like kinetic energy works by exploring a puck drop.
"The exercise allows you to adjust the height of the puck so the higher the puck goes before it gets dropped, the higher potential kinetic energy when it's released," he explained. "There's an energy transfer and the potential for kinetic energy rises because the puck is falling faster."
While Future Goals let Gutierrez bring hockey into the classroom, it's something that has always been a part of his teaching. "The kids all know how much of a Kings nut I am," he said. "My Zoom virtual background is the picture from when Anze] Kopitar scored the game-winning in Game 1 against the Devils in overtime."
[Watch: Youtube Video
Gutierrez also uses moments from the Kings' past to illustrate other important concepts in math and science. "A few months ago we were talking about decimals and some of the students were asking 'why do I need to know this' and I said that 'you don't need to be a scientist to work with decimals. You could work in sports with decimals,'" he said.
When the students asked how, Guterriez pulled up Tyler Toffoli's overtime buzzer beater against Boston on October 28, 2017. With less than a second remaining in sudden death, Kopitar won the draw deep in the Bruins' end and got it back to Toffoli, who wired it past Tuukka Rask to win the game.
So Gutierrez drew it up. "I ask them by the time the puck hit the ice and by the time the puck went past the goal line, what is the difference in time," he said. "They said its five-tenths of a second and I say, 'now you see how you can use decimals in everyday life. Not just with money. Not just with weight, but with time as well.' And they got to watch a cool overtime moment."
Besides using the Kings as teachable moments for his students, Gutierrez's passion for the team has rubbed off on his pupils and piqued their interest in the sport. "Living in South Gate, in a predominantly Hispanic area, they watch the Lakers and the Dodgers, so I expose them to hockey," he said. "You can see they are interested in it and they're starting to come around with their interest in hockey."
When he has time, he shows them great moments in Kings history. "When the Kings were playing the Canucks in 2012, the hit that Dustin Brown laid on Henrik Sedin," he said. "You just hear the hit and then you see Sedin go flat on his back. My kids just went crazy for that one."
While he has had a lot of opportunities to share his passion for the Kings with his students, seeing his students succeed is what drives Gutierrez every day. "About two months ago, my first year of teaching I taught eighth grade math and science class and five years later, this student emailed me," he said.
"She asked me for a letter of recommendation for her college application. I have my first student who is going to her first choice of college. So that was like the big reward. She got into her first choice and she emailed and said 'Mr. G, I just wanted to thank you. I'm going to college.'"
For Gutierrez, getting that kind of news felt like winning the Stanley Cup.