In my years in education leadership, I have served as Regional Director of South Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics (SCCTM), Vice President-Middle Level of SCCTM and President of South Carolina Leaders of Mathematics Education (SCLME). My mentor advised me to expand on such leadership endeavors and join NCSM for resources and professional learning opportunities. In the efforts for sharing the knowledge learned, I made it a priority for SCLME to become an affiliate of NCSM. During the process of waiting to become an affiliate, I focused the monthly meetings around the PRIME Leadership framework. The members enjoyed learning about the key principles of teaching and learning, equity, assessment and curriculum. Each month allowed members to reflect on their practices and make sure that we are informing teachers who are under our leadership of the four components and how the components need to exist in our schools if we want all students to experience improved achievement in mathematics.
My passion for being in education is to ensure that all students have access to quality education. Quality education requires effective mathematics teachers, relevant curriculum and culturally responsive pedagogy, which is the heart of NCSM. I was fortunate to attend my first NCSM conference as a recipient of the Iris Carle Travel Grant. The conference allowed me to connect with other mathematics specialists, engage in sessions and learning experiences, which allows me to go back to my district and state and make a difference when I share and apply the information learned from the conference. I will continue to support NCSM’s vision with teachers in my district, state, region, as well as teacher leaders who I can connect with during my career.
