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Message From the President

Agida G. Manizade

This is my last issue as the Editor and my first is sue as the elected President of the VCTM. I was invited to join the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (VCTM) Board of Directors in 2015 as the Editor - in - Chief of the Virginia Mathematics Teacher Journal (VMT) . Due to the hard work and dedication of the entire editorial team, this journal was recognized as an Outstanding Publication by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 2018. It has been an honor and privi lege to serve as the Editor of this outstanding prac titioner - oriented publication. I want to thank the entire editorial team for all their hard work and in credible professionalism. I want to welcome our new editorial team, including Brianna Kurtz and Toni Sorrell. I am excited to see the amazing work that they have in store for us. It is no secret that the past several years were chal lenging for all teachers across the world. The Pan demic has been a commonly shared experience that did not recognize borders, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or race. All mathematics teachers across the globe had to quickly learn how to adapt and do what is needed for their students. Through this ex perience we have learned some important lessons. Coming back into in - person classes and settings, we, as teachers, had to grapple with another chal lenge: the realization that regardless of the amount of effort we put forward, students did not learn as much and as deeply as we hoped. Teachers had to adapt yet again, by being the cheerleaders for our students, differentiating our instruction to accom modate for students ’ developmental levels in math ematics, providing additional instruction when needed, and utilizing the best practices and availa ble technological tools and manipulatives.

At the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathemat ics, we too felt the toll of the pandemic. As well as many other state and national teacher organiza tions, our membership numbers were at an all - time low. In order to connect to our audience and en gage with mathematics educators who were over worked and in need of support, we revised our strategies. Since the beginning of my presidency in July 2022, our board: approved the new strategic plan; adapted a new mission, vision, and diversity position statement as presented on our website; and implemented a new membership outreach strategy. At the VCTM, we also changed our traditional fi nancial model that had been in place since 1976. For the first time this year, we partnered with cor porations across the Commonwealth through our Elite Sponsorship Program, and we generated enough funding through corporate partnerships and exhibitors to cover the cost of the annual confer ence. This allowed us to obtain funding that can now be used to support novice and experienced teachers across the Commonwealth and advance our strategic plan. I look forward to connecting with you during the next two years and invite you to join the VCTM Board by participating through the election process this Spring and next Spring. I also would like to invite you to join us at the Annu al NCTM Conference this October in Washington, DC. The VCTM will serve as an affiliate cohost this year. Last but not least, our next Annual Con ference will be held in early March of 2024. We hope to see you. Once again, it is a great pleasure to serve as the President of this wonderful volun teer run organization. Dr. Agida Manizade

Virginia Mathematics Teacher vol. 48, no. 1

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