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American Institute of Mathematics Awarded Tellabs Foundation Grant
Funding will support workshop for middle school math teachers
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 1, 2010 – The American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) was recently awarded a grant of $13,900 from the Tellabs Foundation. The grant will help support a workshop for middle school math teachers from Silicon Valley. The teachers will join the AIM Math Teachers’ Circle, which connects these teachers with local mathematicians to work on mathematical problem solving.
“We are thrilled that the Tellabs Foundation has decided to support the AIM Math Teachers’ Circle summer workshop,” said Brian Conrey, Executive Director of AIM. “Their generous contribution helps make possible what we think is a terrific opportunity for local math teachers.”
At the summer workshop, approximately 20 local teachers will participate in problem-solving sessions led by professional mathematicians. The workshop will take place July 6-9, 2010, at AIM, which is located next to Fry’s Electronics in Palo Alto. The Tellabs Foundation grant will help pay for nearby lodging so that teachers can attend all of the intensive day and evening sessions and fully concentrate on the mathematics. Teachers’ meals will also be paid for, and they will be eligible for graduate credits through a special arrangement with San Jose State University.
“The immersion workshop is very intense and teachers thrive in its mathematically rich environment,” according to Tatiana Shubin, Professor of Mathematics at San Jose State University and Director of the AIM Math Teachers’ Circle program. “The workshop provides a strong foundation for their continued professional development which will ultimately result in live and vigorous mathematics imbibed by their students.”
In addition to the Tellabs Foundation, other current sponsors of the AIM Math Teachers’ Circle include Rockwell Collins, the American Mathematical Society, and private donors. Past sponsors have included the Mathematical Association of America and the National Security Agency.
About Math Teachers’ Circles
Math Teachers’ Circles are collaborations between professional mathematicians, middle school math teachers, and school administrators. In a Math Teachers’ Circle, teachers experience open-ended problem solving firsthand in lively discussion sessions led by mathematicians. By enriching teachers’ own experience of mathematics, the Math Teachers’ Circle program hopes to affect their classroom teaching so that it includes more problem solving, a key component in student learning and engagement in mathematics.
The AIM Math Teachers’ Circle, founded in 2006, is the original member of the national Math Teachers’ Circle Network, which is also organized by AIM. By this summer, the Network will include approximately 44 Math Teachers’ Circles in various stages of development across the country.
About the Tellabs Foundation
The Tellabs Foundation was established by Tellabs, a global telecommunications equipment provider based in Naperville, Illinois. The Foundation supports the priority areas of education, health, and the environment in communities where Tellabs employees live and work. Since 1997, the Foundation has given more than $12 million to nonprofit organizations.
About the American Institute of Mathematics
The American Institute of Mathematics, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 1994 by Silicon Valley businessmen John Fry and Steve Sorenson, longtime supporters of mathematical research. AIM is one of the seven mathematics institutes in the U.S. funded by the National Science Foundation. The mission of AIM is to expand the frontiers of mathematical knowledge through sponsoring focused research projects and workshops and encouraging collaboration among mathematicians at all levels. AIM currently resides in Palo Alto, California, while awaiting the completion of its permanent headquarters in Morgan Hill, California.
For more information about this story, please contact Brian Conrey, Executive Director of AIM, 650.845.2071, conrey (at) aimath.org.
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