VENTURA : Girls’ Math Teacher Awarded Fellowship

A Ventura High School teacher whose all-girl math classes received national attention last year has been awarded nearly $10,000 from the American Assn. of University Women.

Christine Mikles is one of only 15 educators nationwide to receive an Eleanor Roosevelt Fellowship from the organization.

Her award amounts to $9,805.

Mikles said she appreciates the money, which she is using to buy students’ calculators and pay for extra training for herself and other Ventura High math teachers.

But the fellowship is also important for giving her the sense that her work is valued, Mikles said.

Because girls are often discouraged from pursuing higher-level math courses, Mikles launched two all-girl algebra II classes at Ventura High last year to give female students extra support and attention. She also helped organize some single-sex math classes at Anacapa Middle School.

Only a handful of other public schools around the nation are experimenting with single-sex classes.

Although Mikles said Ventura Unified School District officials have supported the all-girl classes, she said her efforts have been disparaged and criticized by some fellow teachers.

At math conferences around California, many teachers have questioned Mikles about the need for girls-only classes.

“As soon as they heard I was single-sex education, they’d say, ‘What do you have to do that for?’ ” Mikles said. “I was almost getting ready to quit on the all-girls program.”

Instead, she is expanding the program this year. She will teach one all-girl algebra II class, and two other Ventura High teachers will offer all-girl sections of geometry and trigonometry.