Three years ago we launched our first ever Desmos Fellowship, and from that moment Desmos was forever changed. Our goal at Desmos is to help students learn math and love learning math, and we need teachers to make that goal a reality. The Desmos fellowship has proven to be an essential way for us to stay in touch with teachers so that we design tools that ensure that math is for everyone.
We have invited 41 teachers to participate in the Desmos Fellowship through which they’ll receive community, mentorship, early access to our best ideas and technology, and a free trip to our headquarters in San Francisco this July.
We selected those 41 teachers through an application process that drew over 600 applicants. We looked for applicants who:
- Hold strong opinions, clearly articulated, and loosely held. This is the big one. We love to learn with people who express strong ideas and convictions about issues that matter to us. This year’s cohort includes people who wrote clearly and convincingly about the role of technology in math education, about technology’s tendency to help and harm students, about the urgency of cultivating beliefs, pedagogies, and technologies that humanize mathematics and include students who have been historically excluded from participation and achievement in math class. These applicants also demonstrated humility about the limits of their own ideas, presenting themselves as someone who would learn alongside the rest of us.
- See promise in our work and also room for improvement. In our work, we take the best path we can see, and we try to surround ourselves with people who can help us find a better one. This year’s fellowship cohort wrote in their applications about our need to focus our efforts beyond middle and high school, to translate our activities into languages besides English, and to develop more activities that help students understand their world. We’re always excited to partner with people who will hold us to higher and higher standards.
- Are strong writers. Over the last three years, the people who have benefited the most from our fellowship are people who continue to chat with each other throughout the school year in a Fellows-only forum on the internet. That takes an affinity and aptitude for writing online.
We look forward to supporting and learning from them the following teachers, our fourth cohort of Desmos Fellows:
Andrew Schwartz
Wright City R-II School District
Washington, MO
Ashley Tewes
Mounds View School District
Plymouth, MN
Brett Parker
Baltimore County Public Schools
Bel Air, MD
Caitlin Murphy
Pascack Valley Regional High School District
Ramsey, NJ
Chase Orton
Independent Consultant
Venice, CA
Chris Bolognese
Columbus Academy
Columbus, OH
Dave Johnston
Northside Independent School District
San Antonio, TX
Ella Hereth
Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township
Indianapolis, IN
Emma Vierheller
Penta Career Center
Toledo, OH
Farr Prickett Quinn
Alexandria City Public Schools
Alexandra, VA
Gabriel Kramer
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Erie, PA
Greg Epstein
Flowing Wells Unified School District
Tucson, AZ
Greta Bergman
Royalton Public Schools
Sauk Rapids, MN
Hannah Schuchhardt
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago, IL
Idil Abdulkadir
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
Ottawa, ON
Jamie Garner
Stanislaus County Office of Education
Ripon, CA
Javier Cabezas
Powhatan County Public Schools
Richmond, VA
Jenny White
University of North Carolina School of the Arts High School Academic Program
Greensboro, NC
Jennifer Williams
Watauga County Schools
West Jefferson, NC
Joel Bezaire
University School of Nashville
Nashville, TN
Karen Hernandez
Desert Sands Unified School District
Coachella, CA
Kristen Fye
Charlotte Teacher Early College
Charlotte, NC
Laila Nur
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles, CA
Lee Melvin Peralta
New York City
Jackson Heights, NY
Louisa Connaughton
Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School
Belmont, MA
Marty Cardenas
Grand Prairie Independent School District
Grand Prairie, TX
Matt Collins
Catalina Foothills School District
Tucson, AZ
Matt Stadelman
Richland School District
Richland, WA
Melissa Paletta
Westerville City Schools
Columbus, OH
Michelle Griffin
Maine-Endwell Central School District
Endicott, NY
Nicole Hansen
SAU 70: Hanover High School
West Lebanon, NH
Nicole Madrigal
Central Unified School District
Fresno, CA
Ranesha Norman
Sierra Middle School
Bakersfield, CA
Rick Estrada
High School of Sports Management District 21 NYC Department of Education
Brooklyn, NY
Robin Kubasiak
Sturgis Public Schools
Bronson, MI
Sam Olderbak
Tolleson Union High School District
Phoenix, AZ
Sarah Furman
Inland Lakes
Indian River, MI
Sherryl King
Ellington Public Schools
Vernon, CT
Sue Robinson
School District 64 (Gulf Islands)
Salt Spring Island, BC
Tim Guindon
Kettering City Schools
Kettering, OH
Vickie Cavanaugh
Coolidge Corner School, Brookline Public Schools
Newton, MA
Please join us in welcoming these amazing teachers to the Desmos Fellowship!