After twenty-one successful years in education, Cicely was on a smooth road, winding down a wonderful career path. In just nine years, she would be eligible for retirement, after leading a high-performing school. This was her trajectory, until she decided to jump from her comfort zone, into the most provocative challenge of her professional career.  This was two years ago, when she accepted the position to lead Alderson Elementary, which had been an Improvement-Required campus for four years. A principal colleague whispered in her ear before knowing that she accepted the position, “Now that’s career suicide, taking on THAT school!” But all she could hear in her ear was her mother’s advice. “Cicely, if you don’t want to take on the challenge, then who will? The next leader of Alderson has to WANT to be there! You have to lead Alderson, believing that you are the principal of YOUR future doctor, who might be taking care of YOU or even the NEXT president!”  

So that’s her present situation. She stands at the front entrance of Alderson and greets her students and parents, on a daily basis with a smile. She is fully aware that she is shaking the hands and hugging those who will be in the driver’s seat and leading this great country! Lubbock Independent School district had only one option, when she took over as principal. That option was for her to use any means necessary, to lead her school out of Improvement Required status, to one that Met Standards. 

That is exactly what she and her team did! For her, turning Alderson around is personal. Her husband and his nine siblings, yes, ten in all, attended Alderson, many years ago. Her ninety-year old father-in-law still lives just blocks away. The classrooms at Alderson have third or fourth generation cousins to her husband; whose survival is contingent upon their success at Alderson. She couldn’t fail this community- her community.

This is far more than a job or even a career choice. It has been a calling that she strives to complete, with conviction, regarding every decision that she makes. She is very well aware that she and her team are changing lives and thereby, generations.

Throughout her 25 year career span, Cicely has been a classroom teacher, math specialist, behavior counselor, assistant principal and now principal. She has been a guest lecturer at Texas Tech University and served on the Education Advisory Board at Lubbock Christian University. She was a TEPSA Region 17 Assistant Principal of the Year Nominee in 2011 and was a 2019 TEPSA Region 17 National Distinguished Principal of the Year Nominee.

Principal Alexander wears many hats and one she holds dear is First Lady of Holy Temple Church of God in Christ, in Levelland, Texas, where she works, alongside her husband in full time ministry. They have worked full-time in this ministry for eight years, although they have spent their entire marriage serving in ministry, in some capacity. She currently serves as praise team leader, choir member, youth leader and as head of the local Women’s ministry. She is most proud of her beloved family. Her husband, Ben, of 25 years, is Executive Director of South Plains College Lubbock campus, and their three beautiful children: Benjamin Ashton (21)- a junior and known spoken word artist attends Harvard University; Adyson Grace (18)- a college freshman, artist, orator and musician in her own right, attends an HBCU, Xavier University and Benjamin Harrison (12)- a 7th grade robotics and chess strategist at Hutch Middle School in Lubbock, Texas. Her newest hat is that of a student, again! She started the spring semester, as a doctorate student at Texas Tech University, where she will begin the Educational Leadership program in School Improvement. Regardless of the hat that Cicely wears, she trusts that she is being guided by The Holy Spirit to direct her path. 

 Robert Q. Berry III Ph.D. is the Samuel Braley Gray Professor of Mathematics Education and the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia and the immediate Past President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Berry co-edited the 2020 book High School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice which focuses on teaching mathematics for social justice. He has published over 100 articles, book chapters, and proceedings; and has given over 200 presentations. His articles have appeared in the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Journal of Teacher Education, Educational Studies in Mathematics, and the American Educational Research Journal. Berry is a two-time recipient of NCTM's Linking Research and Practice Publication Award and received the University of Virginia's All-University Teaching Award in 2011.

Robert Berry received his Bachelor of Science degree from Old Dominion University, his master's degree from Christopher Newport University, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Nichole Campbell currently is a Teacher on Special Assignment as a Middle School Math Specialist for Anoka Hennepin Schools in Minnesota. Previously, she taught middle school mathematics in the St. Paul Public School District in Minnesota. While in St. Paul she worked with Peggy Nayar who taught English as a Second Language for over 20 years, and is currently a Teacher on Special Assignment as an EL Math Specialist with the St. Paul Public Schools Math Department. While working together in St. Paul, Nichole and Peggy wrote a culturally relevant math curriculum with themes of social justice for the school district, and spoke at the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSO) Conference in regards to the implementation of the culturally relevant math curriculum. Along with their work, they also support teachers in writing and implementing culturally relevant units.  They will have a blog post published on the December 2020 Aligned Blog through the Achieve the Core website (co-published in the quarterly magazine Core Connections.)  Nichole’s Twitter handle is @ncampbell_math.

 The Clayton County Mathematics Team, led by Coordinator Dr. Tonya Clarke and District Lead Teachers Ms. Charlene Matthew and Mrs. Tiffanie Nealy, has a prioritized focus on increasing achievement in mathematics for ALL students through the utilization of relevant curriculum and equitable teaching practices. Team members have an average of 15 years experience teaching and coaching mathematics, writing curriculum, and leading building personnel. The I’m W.O.K.E. Project and the team’s structure for providing systemic teacher support have been shared at national and international conferences, allowing the team to connect and collaborate with an extended community of diverse and knowledgeable educators who contribute to Clayton County's ability to Make Math Matter for every student every day.

Dr. Peter Eley, a Professor of Mathematics Education, and interim chair of the Department of Health, Physical and Secondary Education at Fayetteville State University (FSU), was named 2020 recipient University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. Eley holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Elizabeth City State University, a master's degree in Applied Mathematics and Mathematics Education from North Carolina State University (NCSU), and a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from NCSU.

A practitioner and leader in K-12 and higher education, Eley has served as a mathematics and science teacher in the middle and high school sectors. His work as Data Manager/Webmaster for Saint Augustine University in Raleigh, NC, was the gateway into the collegiate career space, serving as Mathematics and Science Education (NC-MSEN) Pre-College Program Coordinator at Winston-Salem State University and assistant professor at Fayetteville State University.

Eley's exceptional record has been acknowledged with awards and accolades over the years, including Ronald E. McNair Trailblazer Award, Middle Grades, Secondary, and Specialized Subjects Department Professor of the Year and Fayetteville State University's College of Education Professor of the Year. The Wynton H. Hadley Teaching Award honoree was also selected as a Senior Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute for College and Career Readiness (MICCR), MassInc's Gateway Cities Innovation Institute (GCII), and the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy. Eley has served as a Faculty Administrative Fellow at Fayetteville State University and the University of North Carolina System. Dr. Eley serves his alma mater as chairman of the Elizabeth City State University Foundation, and h serves his community as Pastor of the SafeHouse Church of Greensboro, NC. Find out more at www.drpetereley.com

Twitter:@drpetereley

Dr. Kristine Ho, has been Director of Math Programs at UCLA, Center X since June of 2017.  The UCLA Mathematics Project (UCLAMP) is part of a statewide program that strives to make a positive impact on TK-12 educators, students, communities and school districts in the Los Angeles basin. We partner with these entities to provide rich and transformative Mathematical experiences in urban schools.  Based on thirty-six years of research and experience, UCLAMP has developed programs that help prepare equity-focused, reflective, and responsive leaders in Mathematics.

Prior to her position at UCLA, Kristine served as an Adjunct Professor at the USC Rossier School of Education where she taught Math methods for elementary and secondary candidates.  She has spent the last 12 years engaging in and growing the work around Cognitively Guided Instruction by providing training and support in schools around Los Angeles.

Dr. Ho also served in the Teacher Education Program at the University of California, Los Angeles as a Supervisor for a Secondary Mathematics Candidates. Prior to her work at UCLA, she was a secondary mathematics teacher in Centinela Valley Unified School district.   Ho received her Ph.D. in Urban Schooling as DiME (Diversity in Math Education) Fellow from University of California, Los Angles, her M.Ed from University of California, Los Angeles, her B.A. in Mathematics and B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Washington. 

Grace Kelemanik, a co-founder of Fostering Math Practices, has more than 30 years of mathematics education experience. A frequent presenter at national conferences, her work focuses on fostering mathematical thinking practices in all students. She is a former urban high school mathematics teacher and Project Director at Education Development Center. Grace has also worked extensively with new and preservice teachers through the Boston Teacher Residency program.  Grace is the coauthor of Routines for Reasoning: Fostering the Mathematical Practices in All Students. She is a mathematics education consultant and professional development provider.  Follow Grace on Twitter @GraceKelemanik

National Board Certified Instructor Greg Lakey was a student-athlete at the University of Southern California and Loyola Marymount University.  He graduated from LMU with a Bachelors in Business Administration emphasizing in Computer Information Systems. Greg started his professional basketball career in Beirut, Lebanon and later played professionally in Jordan, Syria, Chile and Germany. Once his playing days were over he decided to pursue education as a way to provide the type of motivation and encouragement he wished he would have received from teachers in his youth. Over the last 16 years he has taught Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry & created, implemented and received A-G accreditation for courses he wrote the curriculum for: Accelerated Integrated 9^th grade Mathematics and Math 9. Mr. Lakey is a firm believer in “exploratory” curriculum that is hands-on, tangible and applicable. He has built projects and published curriculum consisting of cars, ramps, and photogates to teach the patterns of linear equations, used real time banking data to connect exponential equations to savings accounts, built rockets with students to investigate the relationships between quadratics and physics and introduced the stock market to the classroom by having students use standard deviation to track the volatility of selected stocks.

Christina Lincoln-Moore is an innovative Constructivist educational leader who is tenaciously and profoundly dedicated to mindful inquiry-based learning to engender formidable mathematics identities. She taught for LAUSD from 1996 until 2014. She is currently the Principal of Cheremoya Avenue in Hollywood, California. Christina presents as a featured speaker focused on the re-humanization of mathematics for historically excluded students by integrating mathematics, social-emotional learning (SEL), and mindfulness.  She believes the integration of SEL and mathematics can change the trajectory of children's lives. Her professional presentations include the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and California Mathematics Council. Christina serves as the Secretary of State for the California Mathematics Council (CMC). Mrs. Lincoln-Moore is the Founder of Talk Number 2 Me™ Mathematics Consulting. [email protected] https://talknumber2me.com/

Dr. Shelly M. Jones is a Professor at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. She teaches undergraduate mathematics content and methods courses for pre-service teachers as well as graduate level mathematics content, curriculum and STEM courses for in-service teachers. Her research focus includes characterizing teachers’ experience with implementing culturally relevant cognitively demanding mathematics. Before joining the CCSU faculty, Dr. Jones was a middle school Mathematics Teacher and a Mathematics Supervisor in K-12 education.

Dr. Jones serves her community by working with various professional and community organizations.  She is the Position Papers Editor of NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education, a member of NCTM and President-Elect of the Benjamin Banneker Association. You can see her CCSU TEDxTalk on YouTube  where she gives a talk about culturally relevant pedagogy in mathematics education. She is a contributing author for the book entitled, The Brilliance of Black Children in Mathematics: Beyond the Numbers and Toward a New Discourse and the author of Women Who Count: Honoring African American Women Mathematicians, a children’s activity book. Shelly’s accomplishments have earned her recognition by Mathematically Gifted & Black as a Black History Month 2019 Honoree.

 Janaki Nagarajan is an early career elementary teacher in Seattle, WA. She loves learning about children's mathematical thinking and aspires to center her teaching around student voice and choice. She blogs reflections from her classroom at www.thinkingwithchildren.com and on Twitter @janaki_aleena.

Dr. Nicki Newton is an education consultant who works with schools and districts around the country and Canada on k-8 math curriculum.  She has taught elementary school, middle school, and graduate school. Dr Nicki has an Ed.M. and an Ed.D from Teachers, College Columbia University. She is greatly interested in teaching and learning practices around the world and has researched education in Denmark, Guatemala and India. She has written several books and is currently working on one about imagination, wonder and creativity in schools. 

Georgina Rivera is currently an administrator for a Pre-K through Eighth grade school in Bristol, CT. She has served as the Elementary STEM Supervisor for Bristol Public Schools, district wide elementary math coach, and started her career as a middle school mathematics teacher. In addition to her work in the district she is on the NCSM board and serves alongside the President, Mona Toncheff as one of the Professional Learning Directors. She contributed to the NCSM Essential Actions Series: Framework for Leadership in Mathematics, co-authored the grade one math series, Math by the Book with Sue O'Connell that will be released in Spring 2021 and served as a super reviewer for the new Math Unit Planning Series for Solution Tree, and a Math at Work Solution Tree Associate.

She has presented at NCSM, NCTM, ATOMIC, Trinity College and Central Connecticut State University on mathematics teaching and learning, culturally relevant mathematics and social justice math. She was the recipient of the 2010 Bristol Teacher of the Year award, the Charlene Tate-Nichols award for her contributions to mathematics education in the state of Connecticut, and recipient of the Leadership in Mathematics Award at Central Connecticut State University.

Ishmael Robinson is an educator, administrator, and civic leader with a passion for tackling the opportunity gap, especially in the realm of mathematics. He has over 20 years of educational experience, including teaching math, being a school and district administrator, capturing and utilizing data on various REA teams, and now leading PreK-12 mathematics in St Paul. Ishmael believes strongly in empowering educators through best practice pedagogy, engaging students through culturally responsive learning, and utilizing data to drive instruction. Currently, Ishmael has begun work to implement a K-12 financial literacy scope and sequence.  Ishmael is active on social media and is open to conversation via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ishmael.robinson.  As a personal beneficiary of educators who pursued him, challenged him, and believed in him as a student, Ishmael firmly believes that building capacity in educators is the key to closing the opportunity gap. To afford that, Ishmael understands and embodies effective leadership - as a leader of a team, administrator, content coach, and district instructional leader.  

Dr. John W. Staley has been involved in mathematics education for over 30 years as a secondary mathematics teacher, district leader, and adjunct professor in schools and universities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. During his career he has presented at state, national, and international conferences; served on many committees and tasks forces; facilitated workshops and professional development sessions on a variety of topics; received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics and Science; and served as President for NCSM, the mathematics education leadership organization. He currently serves on several advisory boards and just finished serving as chair of the U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction. In addition, he was part of the writing teams for Catalyzing Change in High School Mathematics: Initiating Critical Conversations (NCTM, 2018), Framework for Leadership in Mathematics Education (NCSM, 2020), and High School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice (Corwin Publishing, 2020).

Myuriel von Aspen is a Teacher on Special Assignment at the Newport-Mesa Unified School district in Orange County, CA where she supports teachers in improving the quality of math instruction and the learning experience for all students, especially children who have been historically marginalized.  Myuriel also provides language supports for Illustrative Mathematics. Prior to her current assignment, Myuriel worked as a teacher and math coach at a Two-Way Dual Immersion Title I school.  As a child, Myuriel emigrated to the US as a refugee from Central America. Her vision is that ALL children regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status have access to high-quality, equitable instruction leading to opportunities for them to attain their dreams. She received a B.S. in Computer Science at Florida International University, and earned an MBA and a Masters in Teaching from the University of California, Irvine.

Cathery Yeh (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Attallah College of Educational Studies at Chapman University. She has been in education for over twenty years, beginning her tenure in dual-language classrooms in Los Angeles and abroad in China, Chile, Peru and Costa Rica. As a classroom teacher, Cathery visited over 300 student homes and integrated students’ lived experiences, knowledge, and identities into the curriculum.

Cathery’s research centers on critical mathematics education, humanizing practices, ethnic studies, and social justice teaching and learning. She is the co-author of the NCTM books: Reimagining the Mathematics Classroom and Catalyzing Change in Early Childhood and Elementary School Mathematics as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters. She is currently working on a co-authored book on mathematics lessons that will explore and respond to social (in)justice and mathematics for liberation.