2021 Summer Institutes and Academies
What we learned, loved, and accomplished
Math for America San Diego provided another successful summer of high-quality mathematics support in the Oceanside Unified School District. Teachers and students alike were happy to leave behind last year’s remote learning on Zoom and meet in-person, face-to-face -- or rather, mask-to-mask — at the program’s annual teacher institute and student summer academies. Math for America San Diego (MfA SD) Summer Mathematics Institute and Academies are made possible each year by a generous gift from the Mara W. Breech Foundation.
“We are enormously grateful to The Mara W. Breech Family Foundation for their continued support of our summer work,” said Osvaldo “Ovie” Soto, executive director of MfA SD, co-director of the UC San Diego Mathematics Project and mathematics director for UC San Diego’s DSEC initiative. “Annual funding by The Breech Family Foundation assures we continue our mathematics teaching and learning in the region’s highest-need districts and schools.”
“We are enormously grateful to The Mara W. Breech Family Foundation for their continued support of our summer work,” said Osvaldo “Ovie” Soto, executive director of MfA SD, co-director of the UC San Diego Mathematics Project and mathematics director for UC San Diego’s DSEC initiative. “Annual funding by The Breech Family Foundation assures we continue our mathematics teaching and learning in the region’s highest-need districts and schools.”
MfA SD/Oceanside Unified School District Collaboration
MfA SD’s summer programming success is also attributed to the robust partnership it maintains with the Oceanside Unified School District (OUSD). Teresa Collis, OUSD’s Career Technical Education coordinator and MfA SD Executive Committee president, has worked with MfA SD and with Soto for more than eight years to bring crucial mathematics support to the district’s incoming middle and high school students.
In addition to her career technical duties, Collis is the district’s project director for a U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) grant called Project MaSTerS in Math (Marching Students Towards Success in Math). Dr. Guershon Harel, a professor in the Department of Mathematics at UC San Diego and director of the summer Mathematics Institute for teachers, serves as the grant’s principal investigator (PI). This year Collis helped to expand funding for MfA SD’s efforts by tapping grant funds to support MfA SD’s summer mathematics programming.
OUSD also welcomed support from the Department of Defense STEM Consortium Initiative (DSEC) San Diego hub, housed with Math for America San Diego and the UC San Diego Math Project at UC San Diego’s Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence (CREATE). Districts like OUSD with a high percentage of K-12 military students and their families are eligible for Department of Defense K-12 STEM resources.
“CREATE draws from its base of in-house STEM grants, programs and initiatives supporting regional high-need schools and districts,” Soto said. “Successful programs and our dedication to supporting local educators has helped to increase our growing mathematical resources and educational expertise,” Soto said.
In addition to her career technical duties, Collis is the district’s project director for a U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) grant called Project MaSTerS in Math (Marching Students Towards Success in Math). Dr. Guershon Harel, a professor in the Department of Mathematics at UC San Diego and director of the summer Mathematics Institute for teachers, serves as the grant’s principal investigator (PI). This year Collis helped to expand funding for MfA SD’s efforts by tapping grant funds to support MfA SD’s summer mathematics programming.
OUSD also welcomed support from the Department of Defense STEM Consortium Initiative (DSEC) San Diego hub, housed with Math for America San Diego and the UC San Diego Math Project at UC San Diego’s Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence (CREATE). Districts like OUSD with a high percentage of K-12 military students and their families are eligible for Department of Defense K-12 STEM resources.
“CREATE draws from its base of in-house STEM grants, programs and initiatives supporting regional high-need schools and districts,” Soto said. “Successful programs and our dedication to supporting local educators has helped to increase our growing mathematical resources and educational expertise,” Soto said.
Summer Institute
MfA SD’s annual summer mathematics program includes a summer institute for teachers and a follow-up summer academy for students. This year, 11 mathematics teachers attended the one-week teacher professional development institute that was developed and led by Professor Harel.
At the Summer Institute, teachers deepened their mathematics knowledge and pedagogy in an immersive learning environment: Teachers work individually and with each other by exploring multi-layered mathematical problems and by analyzing research on student thinking and instructional outcomes. Following the Summer Institute, the teachers teach at either a high school or middle school Summer Academy, where they receive real-time feedback on their new teaching methods from students and their Summer Institute colleagues.
At the Summer Institute, teachers deepened their mathematics knowledge and pedagogy in an immersive learning environment: Teachers work individually and with each other by exploring multi-layered mathematical problems and by analyzing research on student thinking and instructional outcomes. Following the Summer Institute, the teachers teach at either a high school or middle school Summer Academy, where they receive real-time feedback on their new teaching methods from students and their Summer Institute colleagues.
Summer Institute and Academy teachers for 2021 included Armand Amoranto, teacher on special assignment, OUSD; Jennifer Barnes, El Camino High School; Trevor Walker, Santa Margarita Elementary (K-8); and Thomas Wills, Oceanside High School.
MfA SD Alumni Teaching Fellows who served as mentors for the OUSD teachers included Gregory Guayante, El Camino High School; Fred Griesbach, Sagebrush Canyon High School; Genevieve Esmende, Wangenheim Middle School; and Trang Vu, Brant Middle School. Victoria Holley, a MiraCosta college student, STEMULATE scholar at UC San Diego, and OUSD El Camino High School graduate and future secondary math teacher also attended.
MfA SD Teaching Fellow alumnae Yekaterina Milvidskaia, improvement coach at High Tech High Graduate School of Education, served as the 2021 Summer Institute and Academy director.
MfA SD Alumni Teaching Fellows who served as mentors for the OUSD teachers included Gregory Guayante, El Camino High School; Fred Griesbach, Sagebrush Canyon High School; Genevieve Esmende, Wangenheim Middle School; and Trang Vu, Brant Middle School. Victoria Holley, a MiraCosta college student, STEMULATE scholar at UC San Diego, and OUSD El Camino High School graduate and future secondary math teacher also attended.
MfA SD Teaching Fellow alumnae Yekaterina Milvidskaia, improvement coach at High Tech High Graduate School of Education, served as the 2021 Summer Institute and Academy director.
Summer Academies
The Summer Academy at OUSD’s Rancho Margarita Middle School was held at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Nineteen incoming sixth graders attended the academy, which focused on proportional reasoning. Gen Esmende, Trang Vu, Trevor Walker and Armand Amoranto were the instructors. Victoria Holley attended the academy each day and gained an appreciation for the complexity of teaching mathematics.
“By observing the work of teachers ‘behind the scenes’ I realized the depth of expertise required to provide effective math methods to younger students," said Holley (pictured right). “I have a new respect for the mathematics teaching profession after learning how deeply teachers must think about the mathematics they are teaching.”
The high school Summer Academy at Oceanside High School supported 12 incoming ninth graders. It was taught by Gregory Guayante, Fred Griesbach, Thomas Wills and Jennifer Barnes. Students at the high school academy tackled linearity, an essential concept for success in secondary mathematics.
“By observing the work of teachers ‘behind the scenes’ I realized the depth of expertise required to provide effective math methods to younger students," said Holley (pictured right). “I have a new respect for the mathematics teaching profession after learning how deeply teachers must think about the mathematics they are teaching.”
The high school Summer Academy at Oceanside High School supported 12 incoming ninth graders. It was taught by Gregory Guayante, Fred Griesbach, Thomas Wills and Jennifer Barnes. Students at the high school academy tackled linearity, an essential concept for success in secondary mathematics.
About the Summer Programs
The Math for America San Diego Summer Mathematics Institutes and Academies serve teachers and students by engaging them in deep content knowledge through puzzles and intriguing math problems. Students gain confidence and improved understanding of key mathematical concepts and feel better prepared as they enter school in the fall.
MfA SD Teaching Fellows work with secondary mathematics departments and teachers who benefit from these collaborations. The academies provide the math teachers with a safe context to try out innovative teaching strategies, something that is hard to do during the traditional school calendar with the rush to “cover” material and prepare students for standardized tests.
Summer Mathematics Academy students:
● Strengthen their mathematical content knowledge
● Learn new ways to solve math problems
● Learn to communicate their thinking with others
● Receive individual attention from excellent instructors
● Develop confidence for next year's math class
If your school or district is interested in participating in a Summer Mathematics Academy, please contact MfA SD Executive Director Ovie Soto for more information.
MfA SD Teaching Fellows work with secondary mathematics departments and teachers who benefit from these collaborations. The academies provide the math teachers with a safe context to try out innovative teaching strategies, something that is hard to do during the traditional school calendar with the rush to “cover” material and prepare students for standardized tests.
Summer Mathematics Academy students:
● Strengthen their mathematical content knowledge
● Learn new ways to solve math problems
● Learn to communicate their thinking with others
● Receive individual attention from excellent instructors
● Develop confidence for next year's math class
If your school or district is interested in participating in a Summer Mathematics Academy, please contact MfA SD Executive Director Ovie Soto for more information.
2020 Mara W. Breech Foundation Supports Annual
Summer Academies
Teachers and students pivot to distance learning in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic
With continuing support from the Mara W. Breech Foundation, Math for America San Diego offered two one-week Summer Mathematics Academies for Barrio Logan students from the San Diego Unified School District in July 2020. Math for America San Diego's Executive Director Ovie Soto and four veteran Math for America San Diego (MfA SD) Teaching Fellows engaged 12 rising 5th grade students in a reconceptualization of mathematics, including content from game theory, a part of Discrete Mathematics. The MfA SD teaching fellows used the Summer Math Academies as a setting for a virtual teaching pilot program. The pedagogical approach and tools needed for distance learning differ from those used in face-to-face instructions.
According to Soto, to engage students in meaningful learning of mathematics requires the orchestration of meaningful dialogue. “Students need to verbalize their understanding of mathematics as a basis for learning to represent those ideas more efficiently,” he said. “Mathematical discourse remotely is proving challenging for teachers. This program was designed to help students and teachers begin to cope with the challenges of online learning in mathematics specifically.”
According to Soto, to engage students in meaningful learning of mathematics requires the orchestration of meaningful dialogue. “Students need to verbalize their understanding of mathematics as a basis for learning to represent those ideas more efficiently,” he said. “Mathematical discourse remotely is proving challenging for teachers. This program was designed to help students and teachers begin to cope with the challenges of online learning in mathematics specifically.”
Math for America San Diego’s yearly Summer Mathematics Academies represent both a student-facing activity and a form of teacher professional development as teachers meet for two hours to prepare and debrief lessons together. This year’s Summer Math Academies helped high-need, low-income students in one of San Diego’s neediest communities.
"We received an outpouring of gratitude from parents and students for providing this innovative learning experience. We are deeply appreciative of the Mara W. Breech Foundation's annual support of the MfA SD Summer Academies and teacher professional development,” Soto said.
"We received an outpouring of gratitude from parents and students for providing this innovative learning experience. We are deeply appreciative of the Mara W. Breech Foundation's annual support of the MfA SD Summer Academies and teacher professional development,” Soto said.
About the Program
The MfA SD/Mara W. Breech Foundation Summer Math Academies serve students directly by engaging them in deep content knowledge through puzzles and intriguing math problems. Students gain confidence and improved understanding of key mathematical concepts and feel better prepared as they enter school in the fall.
MfA SD Teaching Fellows work with secondary mathematics departments and teachers who benefit from these collaborations. The academies provide the math teachers a safe context to try out innovative teaching strategies,
something that is hard to do during the traditional school calendar with the rush to “cover” material and prepare
students for standardized tests.
Summer Mathematics Academy students:
If your school or district is interested in hosting a Summer Mathematics Academy, please contact MfA SD Executive Director Ovie Soto for more information.
MfA SD Teaching Fellows work with secondary mathematics departments and teachers who benefit from these collaborations. The academies provide the math teachers a safe context to try out innovative teaching strategies,
something that is hard to do during the traditional school calendar with the rush to “cover” material and prepare
students for standardized tests.
Summer Mathematics Academy students:
- Strengthen their mathematical content knowledge
- Learn new ways to solve math problems
- Learn to communicate their thinking with others
- Receive individual attention from excellent instructors
- Develop confidence for next year's math class
If your school or district is interested in hosting a Summer Mathematics Academy, please contact MfA SD Executive Director Ovie Soto for more information.
2019 Mara W. Breech Family Foundation Annual Gift Supports 107 Students at Summer Math Academies
Thanks to an annual gift from the Mara W. Breech Family Foundation, the Summer Mathematics Academies were held again this year in the Oceanside Unified School District. Hosted by Math for America San Diego, a teacher professional development program housed at UC San Diego’s CREATE, two Summer Mathematics Academies ran from July 22– August 9, 2019, supporting 12 nine math teachers, one future math teacher and 107 incoming 8th grade students from four Oceanside Unified School District middle schools. The two Summer Academies were held at Oceanside and El Camino high schools.
Continued funding by the Mara W. Breech Family Foundation has supported mathematics camps, summer institutes and summer academies for the past five years.
“We were delighted the Mara W. Breech Family Foundation provided funding for two Summer Mathematics Academies in the Oceanside Unified School District,” said Osvaldo “Ovie” Soto, executive director of Math for America San Diego and the newly launched UC San Diego Mathematics Project, also housed at CREATE. “Summer Mathematics Academies are places where teachers learn pedagogy and curriculum for a week, and then run a three-week academy with students on a topic they learned about the week before. The academies strengthen and prepare students’ math knowledge while at the same time providing a highly effective professional development experience for teachers.
Continued funding by the Mara W. Breech Family Foundation has supported mathematics camps, summer institutes and summer academies for the past five years.
“We were delighted the Mara W. Breech Family Foundation provided funding for two Summer Mathematics Academies in the Oceanside Unified School District,” said Osvaldo “Ovie” Soto, executive director of Math for America San Diego and the newly launched UC San Diego Mathematics Project, also housed at CREATE. “Summer Mathematics Academies are places where teachers learn pedagogy and curriculum for a week, and then run a three-week academy with students on a topic they learned about the week before. The academies strengthen and prepare students’ math knowledge while at the same time providing a highly effective professional development experience for teachers.
A very special thanks to Teresa Collis, principal at Oceanside High School,” Soto added. “She has been a champion of our work for the past four years. With her vision and energy, we’ve been able to provide teachers with necessary instructional support for increasing math understanding and achievement in their students.”
With additional support from MiraCosta Community College’s GEAR UP grant, the UC San Diego Mathematics Project hosted Dr. Guershon Harel, professor of mathematics for UC San Diego, to lead the one-week teacher professional development summer institute. Sixteen math educators from Oceanside Unified School District (OUSD) and four Math for America San Diego (MfA SD) alumni teaching fellows attended the one-week Summer Institute for teachers before a subset of nine teachers taught at the three-week Summer Academies.
MfA SD Teaching Fellows alumni included San Diego Unified School District’s Brett Patrick, mathematics teacher Pershing Middle School, Trang Vu, mathematics teacher from Marston Middle School and OUSD’s Gregory Guayante, mathematics teachers from El Camino High School.
A key to the Summer Academy success is the collaboration of MfA SD alumni fellows to design a curriculum to meet the mathematical needs of students transitioning from middle to high school.
“Starting in April, fellows worked on lesson plans centered on proportional reasoning, which is the gateway to understanding linear function, which is the gateway to understanding local linearity, which is calculus, which takes you into rate of change ideas,” Soto said. “We've found that proportional reasoning is a kind of a pivot point. So we invested a lot of effort in understanding the pedagogical and cognitive difficulties that students face on specific math concepts, such as proportional reasoning.
The one-week professional development institute, developed by Harel, provided an atmosphere where teachers worked individually and collaboratively on rich mathematical problems, while also learning about research on student thinking and implications for instruction.
“Teachers learn that decisions about pedagogical approaches and ‘teaching moves’ come out of a deep understanding of the mathematics content and the research on students’ thinking,” Soto said. “The Summer Institute educates teachers on how to approach instruction in a student-centered way. Teachers did their best to implement all that Professor Harel taught them, learning day by day from each other -- and from their students.”
With additional support from MiraCosta Community College’s GEAR UP grant, the UC San Diego Mathematics Project hosted Dr. Guershon Harel, professor of mathematics for UC San Diego, to lead the one-week teacher professional development summer institute. Sixteen math educators from Oceanside Unified School District (OUSD) and four Math for America San Diego (MfA SD) alumni teaching fellows attended the one-week Summer Institute for teachers before a subset of nine teachers taught at the three-week Summer Academies.
MfA SD Teaching Fellows alumni included San Diego Unified School District’s Brett Patrick, mathematics teacher Pershing Middle School, Trang Vu, mathematics teacher from Marston Middle School and OUSD’s Gregory Guayante, mathematics teachers from El Camino High School.
A key to the Summer Academy success is the collaboration of MfA SD alumni fellows to design a curriculum to meet the mathematical needs of students transitioning from middle to high school.
“Starting in April, fellows worked on lesson plans centered on proportional reasoning, which is the gateway to understanding linear function, which is the gateway to understanding local linearity, which is calculus, which takes you into rate of change ideas,” Soto said. “We've found that proportional reasoning is a kind of a pivot point. So we invested a lot of effort in understanding the pedagogical and cognitive difficulties that students face on specific math concepts, such as proportional reasoning.
The one-week professional development institute, developed by Harel, provided an atmosphere where teachers worked individually and collaboratively on rich mathematical problems, while also learning about research on student thinking and implications for instruction.
“Teachers learn that decisions about pedagogical approaches and ‘teaching moves’ come out of a deep understanding of the mathematics content and the research on students’ thinking,” Soto said. “The Summer Institute educates teachers on how to approach instruction in a student-centered way. Teachers did their best to implement all that Professor Harel taught them, learning day by day from each other -- and from their students.”
Summer Mathematics Academy Participants 2019 (*Also taught at Summer Academies)
OUSD Middle School Teachers
OUSD High School Teachers
Math for America San Diego Alumni Fellows
Summer Academy Principals
- Rasela Mendez (Jefferson Middle School)
- Jay Miller (Jefferson Middle School)
- *Jeremy Robydek (Lincoln Middle School)
- Joey Rota, (Lincoln Middle School)
- *Sal Sanchez (Lincoln Middle School)
- *Renee Thomas (Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School)
- Adrienne Villarreal (Jefferson Middle School)
OUSD High School Teachers
- Cameron Clark (Oceanside High School)
- Darius Pickett (Oceanside High School)
- David Kalt (Oceanside High School)
- *Eduardo Mireles (Oceanside High School)
- William Richman (Oceanside High School)
- Megan Sheffield, (El Camino High School)
Math for America San Diego Alumni Fellows
- *Gregory Guayante (El Camino High School)
- *Brett Patrick (Pershing Middle School )
- *Becky Vega (Morse High School)
- *Trang Vu (Mann Middle School)
Summer Academy Principals
- Teresa Collis (Oceanside High School)
- Frank Balanon (Jefferson Middle School)
- Steve Bessant (Lincoln Middle School)
- Eileen Frazier (El Camino HS)
- Jenny Morgan (Cesar Chavez Middle School)
- Greg Smedley (Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School)
The MfA SD/Mara W. Breech Foundation Summer Math Academies serve students directly by engaging them in deep content knowledge through puzzles and intriguing math problems. Students gain confidence and improved understanding of key mathematical concepts and feel better prepared as they enter school in the fall.
MfA SD Teaching Fellows work with secondary mathematics departments and teachers who benefit from these collaborations. The academies provide the math teachers a safe context to try out innovative teaching strategies,
something that is hard to do during the traditional school calendar with the rush to “cover” material and prepare
students for standardized tests.
Summer Mathematics Academy students will:
If your school or district is interested in hosting a Summer Mathematics Academy, please contact the MfA SD office for more information.
MfA SD Teaching Fellows work with secondary mathematics departments and teachers who benefit from these collaborations. The academies provide the math teachers a safe context to try out innovative teaching strategies,
something that is hard to do during the traditional school calendar with the rush to “cover” material and prepare
students for standardized tests.
Summer Mathematics Academy students will:
- Strengthen their mathematical content knowledge
- Learn new ways to solve math problems
- Learn to communicate their thinking with others
- Receive individual attention from excellent instructors
- Develop confidence for next year's math class
If your school or district is interested in hosting a Summer Mathematics Academy, please contact the MfA SD office for more information.
Past MfA SD Blog Posts
- MfA SD Summer Academies Strengthen Learning for Students – and their Teachers
- This Year, Learn the Science – and Art – of Tutoring High School
- San Diego Math + Leadership Camp gets an “A” for Awesome
- Focus is on “Why” not “How” at Quantitative Reasoning Summer Institute for San Diego Math Teachers
- Gaining New Perspectives in Transformational Geometry
- Common Core Math Coauthor Kicks Off Teacher Leader Collaborative
- Mathematical Ways of Thinking: Summer Math Academies Spotlight Common Core Learning
- Math for America San Diego Summer Institutes: Teachers Plunge into CCSS-M Centered Work
- Minding the Math Gap: Students + Campus Resources = the ERC/CREATE Math Tutor Corps
- Op-Ed Calls for Investment in Mathematics Teaching and Learning
- The Mathematics of Money: BE WiSE Girls Put Real-World Math Skills to Work
- Math for America San Diego Digs Deep into Math Instruction
News
- Sweetwater Bets on Game Theory, MfA SD Interim Director Ovie Soto featured, KPBS, Sept. 2017
- Fellowships for Four Teachers, SD Union Tribune, Sept 2012
- School Notes, Brian Shay Mentor announcement, SD Union Tribune, Feb. 2012
- Five Year Fellowship Gives Math Teacher a New Set of Tools, SD Union Tribune, Jan. 2012
- Teaching by the Numbers, Francesca Henderson Fellowship announcement, San Diego State University, Nov. 2011
- Former Women's Basketball Standout Barry Awarded MFA SD Noyce Fellowship, Columbia University Athletics, Nov. 2011
- Teacher Earns Fellowship to Better Serve Students, Greg Guayante Fellowship announcement, Coast News Group, Nov. 2011
- SD Teacher Joins National Push to Improve Math, SD Union Tribune, April 2011
- SD Non-Profit Proves Math Education Matters, San Diego News Network, Sept. 2009
- $1.5 Million Goes to Recruit, Train Teachers; KPBS, Sept. 2009
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