COUNTYWIDE : Educators Honored for Teaching Math in Meaningful Ways

For Las Colinas School Principal Bill Lamp, there is no better way to teach math than in the home.

That’s why he helped organize a Family Math Night at the Camarillo school serving 1,072 kindergarten-through-sixth-grade students.

During Family Math Night, held once each semester from 7 to 8 p.m. at the school, students, their siblings and parents learn how to recognize opportunities to practice math at home.

While cooking, for example, children can learn about weights, measures and telling time; in the garage, kids discover that minor repair work can involve a variety of mathematical computations.

For his efforts, Lamp was named an Outstanding Mathematics Educator by the Ventura County Mathematics Council this week.

He was one of 10 teachers, administrators and education aides recognized at an annual banquet held by the council Thursday.

Gail Parrino Lowe, the principal of Acacia School in the Conejo Valley Unified School District, took home the council’s top honor, the president’s award, said Beverly Rueckert, a council member and a teacher at Las Colinas School.

The criteria for receiving the award is an educator’s dedication to making math meaningful to students, Rueckert said.

Besides establishing Family Math Night, Lamp makes sure teachers go to conferences where they can learn new ways to teach math.

He also budgets money for innovative math materials and sends newsletters to parents informing them about changes in methods for teaching math, Rueckert said.

“It isn’t just drill work any more,” Rueckert said.

“It’s asking open-ended questions, requiring students to solve problems themselves and relating math to the everyday world,” she said.

The council formed seven years ago to encourage the development of new math programs and to support math teachers countywide, Rueckert said.