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Northwest Mathematics Conference October 24-26, 2024 -
Whistler, BC
President
Kevin Dent loves talking about mathematics, especially discussions of how people think through a problem in their heads. Kevin supports learners to find joy and confidence in the mathematics classroom, and strongly believes that everyone can learn mathematics to the highest levels. He is privileged to learn alongside educators across central Okanagan as a teacher on the Instructional Leadership Team in SD23. He is passionate about numeracy, inquiry, community, and assessment and has spent most of his teaching career exploring these topics in the middle years.
Vice President
Michelle Chu is a teacher with the Burnaby School District. Once she stumbled into the world of learning about the “why” behind mathematics rather than just memorizing procedures, she realized that she wanted to help students understand that joy of experiencing math. Michelle is passionate about professional development and her practice is constantly evolving. She has her Masters in Educational Technology and Learning Designs from SFU.
Michelle enjoys spending family time with her husband, kiddo and two dogs and being active. She can also be found recharging by knitting, sewing, crafting and puzzling.
Past-President
Chris Hunter has been teaching in Surrey for more than twenty years. Currently a numeracy helping teacher, formerly a high school math teacher and department head, Chris collaboratively works with–and learns from–teachers of mathematics from Kindergarten to Calculus; it is his privilege to be invited to teach in many different classrooms throughout Surrey. Chris is passionate about designing experiences that engage learners in mathematical problem solving, reasoning, and communication. Chris is also an active member of the “MathTwitterBlogoSphere,” an online community of math educators; he tweets at @ChrisHunter36 and blogs at chrishunter.ca. Outside of the classroom, Chris enjoys spending time with his family; he and his wife—a Grade 1 teacher—are parents of two young mathematicians.
Secretary
Colin McLellan moved to Vancouver from Alberta in 2004, graduated from the UBC Teacher Education Program in 2006, and has been teaching at McNair Secondary in Richmond ever since. He is constantly reflecting on and changing his practices in the pursuit of something just a little bit better. Although this makes a lot of work for him, he strongly believes that the day he stops changing things is the day he needs to stop teaching. He joined the BCAMT executive in 2008 and has been secretary since 2011. He and his wife, who is also a math teacher, have two young kids who love to count stuff!
Treasurer
NCTM & NCSM Rep.
Marc Garneau is a Numeracy Helping Teacher for the Surrey School District, in which capacity he supports the teaching, learning, and assessing of mathematics across grades K-12. No matter what grade or concept, Marc likes to bring the lens, “Who’s Doing the Math?” to the learning experiences. In addition to the BCAMT Executive, Marc has also served as a member of the K-12 BC Math Curriculum Committee, and was the Canadian Regional Director for the NCSM (math-ed leadership organization) from 2015-2018.
Marc’s greatest source of professional development comes through engaging in the blogs and tweets of the #MTBOS (Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere). Marc’s hobbies include some TV and movies, and any activity that will take him into the beautiful nature of BC. Oh, and beer, Marc likes beer–the darker the better. Marc has four daughters, who in addition to being a lot smarter than he was at their age, are also inspiring through their music and dance. Although, Marc has been known to break into Irish dancing during social events.
Elementary
Lianna Tucker is a Numeracy Helping Teacher in School District 67, where she loves working alongside colleagues to strengthen math instruction and assessment and build confidence and joy in numeracy. With over 15 years of experience teaching in the primary grades, Lianna brings knowledge of early learning and a passion for helping young children see themselves as capable and creative mathematicians. She currently teaches Grade 2, where her focus is on creating welcoming classrooms that nurture curiosity and confidence.
When she’s not teaching, you’ll often find her skiing or playing volleyball. Staying active and connected to the things she loves helps her bring energy and balance back into her work with students and colleagues.
Elementary
Adam Fox is a teacher in North Vancouver who has spent most of his career teaching kindergarten. He is a firm believer in the power of Cuisenaire rods and the benefits of focusing not on number and instead focusing upon the relation between numbers.
In his spare time, he plays soccer as often as possible and exploring the beautiful trails of North Vancouver.
Elementary
Jess Kyle is currently a numeracy helping teacher in Surrey, B.C., where she has been teaching for 20 years. In the 17 years that she spent in the classroom, Jess taught grades 1–7, with the majority of the time at 3/4 and then 6/7. Having spent her career working with students from diverse backgrounds, she is a passionate advocate for culturally responsive teaching and assessment. Other areas of mathematical interest include the connections between math and other disciplines, such as art and coding, as well the field of ethnomathematics. Jess has a master’s degree in teacher inquiry, where she focused on ways to involve students in authentic assessment and building strong classroom communities. She has two elementary-aged children, who are also learning to recognize the joy in playing with mathematics.
Secondary
Ron Coleborn graduated with a Physics degree in 1988 and then worked for four years as a geophysicist. He decided to try teaching for a year or two and has never looked back. He was hired as a mathematics teacher in Burnaby and joined the BCAMT Executive early in his career thanks to his teaching mentor, Ivan Johnson. Ivan played a key role in shaping Ron’s thoughts around education.
Outside of work, Ron has a teenage daughter who continues to keep his wife and him busy–in a good way. Ron currently teaches in Surrey and is really enjoying working with students from grade 8-12.
Secondary
Lena is the district numeracy support teacher in a population-wise small but geographically large rural district in north-central BC, advocating for students and teachers to think of math and numeracy beyond the worksheet. In an average week, Lena supports staff and learners in up to 4 different towns on the unceded, ancestral territories of fourteen First Nations. Prior to this role, Lena was the math department head at Nechako Valley Secondary School, teaching Math 9-12 for twelve years focusing on inclusive and reflective practices that highlight students’ passions as well as creating content connections. Her favourite part of teaching is and always has been building relationships and watching others find joy in math and numeracy related activities.
Outside of the classroom, Lena loves to spend time with her family cooking and baking together at home as well as traveling around the world.
Member-At-Large
Minnie Liu is a dedicated mathematics teacher in West Vancouver who believes that math is more than just numbers—it’s a mindset. After earning her doctoral degree in Mathematics Education from Simon Fraser University, Minnie has focused her career on fostering math positivity in both students and fellow educators. She is passionate about building and sustaining a thinking classroom where numeracy comes to life through a variety of engaging activities. When Minnie is not math-ing, she is usually hunting for the perfect coffee and dessert pairing, practicing yoga, or enjoying quality time with her friends and family.
Member-At-Large
Sandra (she/her) has passion for math education, professional development, and instructional and assessment leadership. She works as district teacher in the VSB for K-7 Numeracy and an adjunct professor at UBC, helping elementary teacher candidates find a love for teaching math. In both roles, she draws upon her classroom experience to demonstrate, lead, and support creative and innovative practices in math education.She is a member of the Indigenous Math Education Network, collaborating with others to connect stories from Indigenous storytellers and communities to math in ways that inspire all students and teachers to work as math explorers.
When not working on math education, Sandra most often putters in her community garden growing flowers and veggies, grabs her partner or friends for a walk, or pulls out one of many knitting projects she has on the go.
Member-At-Large
Independent Schools
Richard DeMerchant worked in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Alberta before settling in British Columbia. While he has spent the majority of his career as a classroom teacher he has also worked as a mathematics, science and technology coordinator at the provincial and territorial levels as well as a vice principal. Richard is currently teaching grades 6-8 at St Michaels University School in Victoria and serves as the Independent School Representative for the BCAMT.
Richard spends his free time supporting his son as a Scouter and with his sports activities. He enjoys many different outdoor activities including geocaching, kayaking, and hiking.
Member-At-Large
Michael Pruner is a high school mathematics teacher from North Vancouver, BC and the past president of the BC Association of Mathematics Teachers. Michael recently completed his masters degree from SFU in mathematics education and is now working on his PhD in the same department. Michael is an advocate for teaching in the Thinking Classroom model, and believes that mathematics is a social endeavour best learned through collaborative activity in rich tasks. Through the BCAMT, Michael has had the privilege of visiting classrooms all across BC sharing his experience and knowledge of developing and maintaining Thinking Classrooms.
Outside of teaching mathematics, Michael likes to spend time outdoors with his family cycling, skiing, and camping.
member-at-large &
Vector Editor
Susan Robinson has spent her career teaching on islands in the Pacific Ocean, finally landing with her family on Salt Spring Island in 2007. She loves being surrounded by the energy and chaos of teenagers as she helps them navigate the tension between confusion and understanding. Susan completed a Masters in Arts Education from SFU, which helped her to bring creativity into her mathematics classes and mathematics into her artistic endeavours. Susan shares editor-ship of Vector with Sean Chorney, and looks for any opportunity to swim in the ocean.
Post-Secondary &
Vector Editor
Sean Chorney taught high school mathematics for 20 years in Vancouver. He is now an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University. He enjoys working with mathematics teachers at the university, sharing his experience and lending support where he can. Sean shares editorial-ship of Vector with Susan Robinson. His hobbies include jazz guitar and tennis.
Post-secondary
Dr. Peter Liljedahl is a Professor of Mathematics Education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Peter is a former high school mathematics teacher who has kept his research interest and activities close to the classroom. He consults regularly with teachers, schools, school districts, and ministries of education on issues of teaching and learning, thinking classrooms, assessment, and numeracy.
The BCAMT acknowledges that we are fortunate to be able to learn, live and grow on many First Peoples unceded territories.
The BCAMT is a Provincial Specialist Association of the BC Teachers’ Federation.