Somehow this is my 22nd year of teaching (!!), and I love it more than ever! I’ve had the pleasure of being the official coach of the Colorado team at the MathCounts National Competition three times (the coach of each state’s winning school gets to take the Top 4 individuals to Nationals). At Nationals, the teams I’ve coaches have finished 10th, 11th and 17th at Nationals (which are quite good results for Colorado!).
In addition to MathCounts, I coordinate the Rich Morrow Math Challenge (with help from dozens of parent volunteers!). I’m also the head question writer and scorer for the Cherry Creek Middle School Math League.
I love teaching all levels of math, and all types of students, but as someone who is deeply driven and fiercely competitive, I have found that math competitions offer a unique level of challenging problems and fun competition. For students who are bored with the traditional curriculum, I believe that the tough problems found on math competitions offer these students a challenge that often they can’t find anywhere else. That’s the good news. The bad news is that learning to tackle these problems takes lots of dedication and time. That’s what these camps are all about–giving the kids the time and guidance to help them solve those wicked problems, while surrounding them with other students who share that common drive and common passion for math!
A bit about me, personally and professionally
I’ve received three prestigious teaching awards in the last 10 years:
The Edyth May Sliffe Award (given to a few teachers each at top-performing schools on the AMC contests). Click here for the link to the award presentation from the Colorado Math Awards
The “MathMovesU Math Hero Award” from Raytheon, which included a $5000 award!
The NSPE-CO “Secondary Educator of the Year Award,” given annually by the National Society of Professional Engineers (Colorado) to one teacher. Click here for more info.
- I earned my Bachelors Degree in Mathematics from Colorado College in 2000 (where I also played on the varsity soccer team!)
- I have a Masters Degree in Curriculum Studies from the University of Northern Colorado
- I taught English in South Korea in 2003-2004, which deeply shaped my philosophy of education (seeing the students at school often until 11:00pm at night)
- I have two young children.. which has also deeply shaped my philosophy of education (seeing the importance of taking breaks and living a balanced life!)
I feel incredibly privileged to be able to work with these amazing kids!
Please contact me anytime, I will respond as soon as I can:
coloradomathcamp@gmail.com
Colorado Math Camp 