The Magic Insider

Meet Mrs. Magic, the Teacher Meshing Learning With Her Love for the Orlando Magic

Step inside the classroom of Mrs. Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a Mrs. Magic: a fourth-grade teacher who meshes her love for the Orlando Magic and her students’ learning experience into one daily occurrence: “Magic Math.”

Mason Williams

Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a. Mrs. Magic, stands outside of her fourth-grade math and science classroom at Stonewyck Elementary School in Orlando.
Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a. Mrs. Magic, stands outside of her fourth-grade math and science classroom at Stonewyck Elementary School in Orlando. / Mason Williams, SI
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ORLANDO –– Orlando Magic posters and pennants line the walls. Miniature basketballs and blue streamers and banners dangle from the ceiling. A double-zero jersey, in the Magic’s home white, hangs by two thumbtacks above a small disco ball.

Prompted by a teacher’s question, children’s hands rise. Among the sea of limbs are familiar faces attached to popsicle sticks — Magic All-Star Paolo Banchero, Jonathan Isaac, and Cole Anthony’s ear-to-ear smile. 

The energy mirrors a Magic home game at the Kia Center. But this setting is 20 highway miles south, at Stonewyck Elementary School. 

This is the fourth-grade math and science classroom of Mrs. Jennifer Lopez, or as she’s known on social media, “Mrs. Magic.” 

It’s 12:15 p.m., time for “Magic Math.” a daily exercise that meets at the intersection of two of Lopez’s passions: assisting her 40-plus students in their grasp of math concepts and sharing her appreciation for Orlando’s professional basketball team. 

Lopez, who is wearing jeans, a pair of panda Nike dunks and a black T-shirt that reads “In My Orlando Magic Era,” will incorporate Magic players, coaches, statistics, and real-life anecdotes as the subjects in math problems for the next hour. Then, in the coming months of the NBA season, the students will watch the Magic score points in factors of two and three, recognize the jersey numbers of their favorite players as prime or composite numbers, and understand decimal places to calculate points-per-game averages.

“It’s been great, motivating them and showing them that math isn’t just in the classroom. You use it every day out there.”

- Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a. Mrs. Magic

As their test score gains show, Lopez’s students love when the lights go down before unit tests and Lopez announces their names like starting lineup introductions.

She does too – not just for the simple fact that she gets to incorporate her Magic into her everyday lesson plan.

In truth, Lopez says that’s just the bonus.

An unlikely outcome

The first 14 years of Lopez’s working career were spent in a job she didn’t love.

She was a project manager for an environmental company in New York, working without a college degree. 

Then, recession hit. Lopez was laid off, and while her husband Joseph kept his job, his hours were cut. At the time, she and Joseph had a two-year-old daughter and were eight months pregnant with their son. As she searched for work, she couldn’t meet the baseline requirement.

“Everybody’s hiring, they want a college degree,” Lopez said.

Looking back, Jennifer feels strongly that her getting laid off was a “blessing in disguise” – something that needed to happen, or else she never would’ve broken out of her comfort zone. It certainly didn’t feel that way in the moment. “It was a lot of prayer in there,” Lopez said.

Ultimately, Jennifer figured the only way back to work was to go back to school. Joseph offered one piece of advice.

“My husband is like, ‘If you’re going to go back to school, go back to school for something you want to do. Don’t go back to school to do the same thing you were doing that [you] weren’t happy doing for all those years,’” Lopez said. 

“So I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to go into education.’”

Lopez poses outside her classroom door, where Magic Math commences every day.
Lopez poses outside her classroom door, where Magic Math commences every day. / Mason Williams, SI.

She was ready, but she’d encountered another hurdle: To fully pursue the dream, she’d need to move somewhere new, as the Bachelor’s program she’d be enrolling in wasn’t available in the state of New York. Still, Lopez followed through. She took out a loan and moved to Florida.

Orlando is where she landed – her home now for the last 10 years. She became a school clerk at Lake Nona High School during her schooling while Joseph stayed behind in New York for six months to keep working, but eventually joined her. Throughout, they saved money together and he always backed her.

He wasn’t alone. It took no more than a week at Lake Nona for her to confirm that yes, this is what she wanted to be doing all along. There, the teachers took her under their wing as she got her feet under her.

“They just embraced me,” Lopez said. “I used to call it a paid internship because they were so helpful.”

Stonewyck Principal Lee Parker is taking in Magic Math as an observer, sporting an unzipped black and blue Magic jacket over his tucked-in polo and jeans. A smile wraps his face as Lopez’s students recite their “good day anthem” – an everyday occurrence that helps set the day’s tone.

It’s time for a good day, students sing in unison. It’s time for a good day.

He's Stonewyck's first principal and helped bring Lopez to the school when it first opened three years ago. His connection with Lopez traces years back to her administrative supervisor at Lake Nona, Amy DeMott. So too does the origin of Magic Math.

DeMott took Lopez in when she needed a teacher to help her complete her student internship and finish her schooling. While helping DeMott clean a closet one day, Lopez found a Magic flag.

“‘You have to see one of my classrooms,’” DeMott told Lopez. She would decorate her room and utilize stats in her lessons. DeMott taught her that teachers need to build relationships with students. If kids don’t like going to a classroom, their learning will suffer.

Lopez's students raise their hands to answer a question.
Lopez's students raise their hands to answer a question. / Mason Williams, SI

As Lopez’s hunt for a job began near the end of her schooling, DeMott urged her to approach Parker about a position with the school. While he was sorry to tell her he didn’t have one, he put in a good word with another principal, and soon Lopez was hired on at Eagle Creek – another Orange County Public School.

Years later, Parker had an abundance of spots to fill at the new school. The good thing about that, he says, is that there’s no one to inherit. Everyone in the school system is handpicked. Because of her previous networking, Parker offered Lopez a spot at Stonewyck.

“I think that’s the beauty of working with OCPS, is it's a huge family,” Lopez continued. “Everyone looks out for one another. Working for Mr. Parker, he lets me take that out-of-the-box approach. If there’s something where he’ll need to come in and say, ‘Lopez, you took it too far. Back it up a little,’ he’ll come in and tell me. But he always gauges it on how the kids react to it, and thankfully we’ve always had good feedback from the kids.”

Parallel connections

Given her lifelong Magic fandom, finding a new home in Orlando because of her Bachelor’s program was a happy coincidence. Her friends tease that it was her plan all along.

‘Oh we knew you would end up in Orlando, we knew it!’ they’d joke.

Lopez and her husband before a Magic playoff game last season.
Lopez and her husband before a Magic playoff game last season. / Courtesy of Jennifer Lopez
Lopez with her son, Joey, and her daughter, Julia, at a Magic game.
Lopez with her son, Joey, and her daughter, Julia, at a Magic game. / Courtesy of Jennifer Lopez

She grew up in a house with four brothers, and because sports were the only thing on TV and the culture of trading cards, she found becoming a fan quite easy. She was in seventh grade when she realized Penny Hardaway was, and still is, her favorite Magic player ever.

Thirty years later, her students discover their Magic fandom as an aside to their learning.

After Lopez’s students loved her room transformation for March Madness her first year at Stonewyck, she approached Parker about making it more permanent. “Yeah, go with it,” he told her. Like a butterfly out of a cocoon, the full-fledged Magic invasion was on.

Magic Math problems open the lesson each day. Participation was shoddy without the incorporation of the Magic players. But when Banchero, Suggs, Wagner and others became the subjects, students’ participation skyrocketed.

“What turned into finding something to connect within the classroom ended up being something that they’re bringing home,” Lopez said. “So now, they’re like, ‘Oh, I watched the game with my dad.’ When the parents come for meet the teacher, they’re like, ‘Oh my God, this is an awesome classroom.’ Now, I had one dad who was buying tickets to take his son to the game.

“The kids bought into it so much – I had a pair of white Nike sneakers with a blue sole on it. I never told them, but if the Magic won, I wore those sneakers the next day. One of the kids realized it, and it turned into the kids coming up the stairs, because I would tell them when the Magic were playing – ‘Oh, they won. She has her blue sneakers on.’ It’s something, a little concept when the season starts, they’re so into it. It became a blessing.’”

Outside of a few parent donations, everything on display in the room is hers. Lopez invested in a printer, and the adding-on is constant. Her students come in each day and marvel at the new additions, and past ones are always amazed when they come back in to see what’s new in the classroom.

“I’ve been blessed where my kids, they come and say hi to us every morning, my partner teacher and I, they come and they get that hug, inspect my classroom. ‘What did you add new? Those pennants weren’t there last year.’ I added their pictures… just making them feel important, keeping that in mind is what motivates me and keeps me going. 

“Seeing the progress they’re making, I can’t stop now. We’re making all this growth. Every day, I want them to come into my classroom and wonder what she’s going to do next. That’s what keeps them going.”

Practice doesn't have to be perfect

A poster board on the classroom’s back wall is the students’ favorite piece of decor. 

On it, Magic players advise that mistakes are okay, as is asking for help and exploring ideas, even if they don’t work. In the corner, coach Mosley states it’s acceptable to be inspired by others.

A posterboard with the headshots of five Magic players and head coach Jamahl Mosley.
The posterboard at the back of the classroom features many Magic players' heads and some words of encouragement. / Mason Williams, SI

“My kids that are in fifth grade now have come back and were like, ‘We love that you added that in there,’” Lopez said. “We’ve used actual quotes from the players where they’re emphasizing the importance of education and Magic Math. They’ll come up and say, ‘That has quotes around it. Does that mean they said it?’ … They love that.”

Lopez will always stress the importance of education. But for the students to see NBA players and coaches – right in their backyard, no less – emphasizing those same values while being at the top of their profession carries weight in its regard.

What’s often lost in the aftermath of mistakes is the growth that it invites. Kids will always want to impress adults, Lopez says, but being right isn’t the only way to do so. Removing the pressure to be perfect gives the children room to voice their thought processes, which affords her the insight to better assist their understanding.

“The other day, I was trying to stress to them that I need to see their math. I can’t help them if I can’t see how they’re working these problems out,” Lopez said. “I told them, ‘You think the players go in, coach Mosley sees them and they say, ‘I know how to play basketball,’ and he goes, ‘You’re hired!?’ I’m like, ‘They have to what?’

The children respond: ‘They have to prove they’re good.’

“I said, ‘Exactly. You have to do the same.’ Connecting little things like that, it’s amazing how they’re just like, okay, I get it now.”

Her lessons, their learning

Lopez leaves, ensuring she’ll be back shortly with a couple students. After five minutes, the door swings open.

“So, a couple turned into a few,” Lopez says as more than 15 students pile into the room behind her. “This is basically my All-Star team” – a collection of fifth-graders she had last year. Over the next few minutes, many refer to her as the favorite teacher they’ve ever had.

A number of these students attended a Magic game last season, part of an outing they dubbed “Magic Math night.” The group sat courtside for the Magic’s warmups, then in the nosebleeds for the game.

One student, Manasse, had never been to a Magic game. “Until Mrs. Lopez – she’s an OG – she bought one more ticket for me to go,” he said, the room filling with laughter. “I was so excited for that, I can’t thank her enough. I’m still thanking her.”

“I didn’t teach you that,” Lopez says between moments of her own chuckles.

Lopez's students watch the Orlando Magic's game versus the Brooklyn Nets on "Magic Math night.
Lopez's students watch the Orlando Magic's game versus the Brooklyn Nets on "Magic Math night. / Courtesy of Jennifer Lopez

Lopez’s students have taken a specific liking to Stuff. On a team with All-League talent and a former NBA champion, the green-furred creature is the classroom’s biggest celebrity.

“Their wish is for Stuff to come visit the school," Lopez said. "That’s like their main thing. It’s crazy because yes, we have the Banchero fans, the Suggs fans, but Coach Mosley and Stuff – those are their two favorites. Those are the two they want.”

They love the song, too. Lopez has Alexa programmed to play it for special occasions.

The command is simple: “Alexa, Orlando won.” The overhead lights in the room go out, the disco ball illuminates the room and the same song that rose to social media fame and blasts throughout the Kia Center after Magic wins echoes throughout the room. The kids get up and dance, and a “Magic party” commences.

But the students don’t just leave Lopez’s room after a year with a newfound or deepened love for the Magic. Another student, Catalina, said she still uses Lopez’s “math hacks.” Every so often when teaching something that would apply in the following year, she’d make a note of things to keep in mind. The front board was for fourth grade, and the fifth-grade hacks filled the back board. 

Lopez takes her kids back to their normal classes and returns moments later. It’s the first time she’s been vindicated straight from her students that her teaching is working.

“It’s humbling to see. You reap what you sow,” Lopez said. “Sometimes, I’m teaching multiplication and division, and it’s tough. You know what the outcome is eventually going to be, but they have to go through that growth process. Sometimes, I want to just tell them like, ‘You’re going to get it. It’s difficult now. I know. Trust that process.’

“To see them reach that is so special. To see that they’re like, ‘I still use it. It helps me. It’s helpful,’ that’s huge for me. That’s the first time I’ve gotten to see that, so on the inside, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I love these kids so much.’”

Lopez makes it very clear: this style of teaching is not just to serve as an outlet for her Magic fandom. She wouldn’t stop doing it if the Magic didn’t occasionally notice or reply to her social media posts and emails about how she incorporates them into her learning. It’s never been anything aimed at earning herself any sort of recognition.

Her students and their growth are at the heart of what she does. It’s her decorations, but their classroom. Her lessons, but their learning. Her encouragement, but their growth and confidence in themselves.

Her personal journey informs her empathy. A forced departure from familiarity meant a risk-heavy arrival into the unknown. In it, she leaned into what she knows best: a love for a basketball team and helping others.

“My friend asked me, ‘Do you just go to work and play with the kids all day?’” Lopez said. “That’s what she says, because I’ll share stuff with her and I’m like, ‘Yeah, the kids are doing this, they did this. She’s like, ‘That’s not working.’

“I’m like, ‘It is, but it’s fun for all of us. So why not?’”

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