Meet Your Regional Directors!

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Region 8: Kristen Helland

Hello!  I am Kristen Helland and I am the Region 8 director for MCTM.  Region 8 is a large geographic region and includes 58 school districts in north-eastern Minnesota from Brainerd to International Falls and Grand Rapids to Lake County.  You can access a list of the school districts in Region 8 from this page http://www.mctm.org/directors.php.

I am currently in my 11th year teaching math at Barnum, a small high school located 35 miles south of Duluth on I35.  One of the best parts about being in a small district is that I am able to teach both junior and senior high. I love teaching the excitable/adorable/energetic 7th graders during their first year at the high school.  I also love teaching challenging content to the seniors who are on their way out into the “real world”. Seeing how much the students learn, change, and grow from seventh grade to twelfth grade is incredible and makes me wonder where the time goes.

This is my first year on the MCTM Board of Directors and I am enjoying being a part of a group that continues to find ways to connect and support educators of mathematics.  I attended my first conference in Duluth during student teaching. Ever since then, MCTM has continued to provide opportunities for me to learn from others and improve my instruction.  If you work in Region 8, please let me know how MCTM can assist you as a teacher of math. You can contact me at region8dir@mctm.org.

Region 4: May Vang

Hello! My name is May Vang, and I am the region 4 director. This is St. Paul and surrounding districts, stretching north as far as St. Francis. It’s a small area but it’s the second largest region.

I currently teach middle school math at Capitol Hill Magnet School – St. Paul Public Schools. I like to tell people that I am a reluctant middle school teacher, but because of the 6 years I have spent in middle school, I attribute a lot of my professional growth to teaching middle school students. Prior to middle school teaching, I spent 3 years teaching math in a high school and 2 years abroad in Japan. Beyond what I do in the classroom with students, I love talking math with teachers and teacher educators. Sharing ideas and collaborating on some of the latest and newest instructional strategies get me excited to go back to my students. I am reminded daily by all of you that what we do is needed and how we do it is how our students get inspired to do math. I am luck to work with all of you and call you my community. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me for anything that you feel MCTM can do to support you and your learning community. region4dir@mctm.org Help us get the word out about MCTM to your colleagues who are not yet members. I’m excited to meet all of you at the annual spring conference in April.

Region 5: Janee Rivard-Johnson

Hello!  My name is Janee Rivard-Johnson and I’m the Region 5 director for MCTM.  Region 5 includes schools from the Edina to Chaska to Minnetonka to Minneapolis and Waconia. You can access a list of the school districts in Region 5 from this page http://www.mctm.org/directors.php  

I work in Minneapolis Public Schools. I am a 5th grade teacher at Kenny Elementary.  My goal is to instill a drive and passion for mathematics, and is dedicated to increasing conceptual understanding of mathematics through engaging, hands-on, inquiry-based lessons. As I grow as a math teacher, I owe much of my growth to connections I have made through MCTM. If you work in Region 5, please let me know how MCTM can help you as a math educator. You can contact me at region5dir@mctm.org.