The iMATHination Conference through the Center for College Access and Success covering best practices in math was held annually from 2007 - 2017. Over the course of the 11 conferences, more STEAM classes were added each year. For 2018, the name of the conference was changed to (STEAM)² Conference to more accurately reflect the content of the conference. The iMATHination pages remain online as a resource and archive.
Previous iMATHination Conference Keynote Speakers
iMATHination 2017 Keynote Speaker
Friday, January 20, 2017
Dr. Rabiah Mayas
Rabiah Mayas, Ph.D. is the Director of Science and Integrated Strategies in the Center for the Advancement of Science Education (CASE) at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. In this role she leads the Museum’s program evaluation and science learning research, public science programs and events, and youth engagement with diverse STEM careers and professionals. She also directs initiatives dedicated to student-driven design, engineering and innovation.
Rabiah earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago and a B.S. in the same discipline from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Rabiah is featured as a repeat guest on WTTW Chicago Tonight’s “Scientific Chicago” and speaks regularly at scientific and education conferences. A lifelong science nerd and enthusiast, Rabiah is passionate about quality science education for all youth as a critical issue of equity and social justice.
Learn more about iMATHination Conference 2017
Friday, January 20, 2017
Dr. Rabiah Mayas
Rabiah Mayas, Ph.D. is the Director of Science and Integrated Strategies in the Center for the Advancement of Science Education (CASE) at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. In this role she leads the Museum’s program evaluation and science learning research, public science programs and events, and youth engagement with diverse STEM careers and professionals. She also directs initiatives dedicated to student-driven design, engineering and innovation.
Rabiah earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago and a B.S. in the same discipline from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Rabiah is featured as a repeat guest on WTTW Chicago Tonight’s “Scientific Chicago” and speaks regularly at scientific and education conferences. A lifelong science nerd and enthusiast, Rabiah is passionate about quality science education for all youth as a critical issue of equity and social justice.
Learn more about iMATHination Conference 2017
iMATHination 2016 Keynote Speaker
Friday, January 22, 2016
Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez
Dr. Gutierrez' is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she is a member of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her scholarship focuses on equity issues in mathematics education, paying particular attention to how race, class, and language affect teaching and learning.
She teaches secondary mathematics methods courses to students who are undergraduates in mathematics and seeking a minor in Education. For practicing teachers and graduate students in the College of Education, she teaches courses in sociopolitical perspectives on mathematics and science education, urban education, reflective teaching, and the Mathematics Science and Engineering Pro-seminar that prepares graduate students to write research articles and understand the publishing process.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez
Dr. Gutierrez' is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she is a member of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her scholarship focuses on equity issues in mathematics education, paying particular attention to how race, class, and language affect teaching and learning.
She teaches secondary mathematics methods courses to students who are undergraduates in mathematics and seeking a minor in Education. For practicing teachers and graduate students in the College of Education, she teaches courses in sociopolitical perspectives on mathematics and science education, urban education, reflective teaching, and the Mathematics Science and Engineering Pro-seminar that prepares graduate students to write research articles and understand the publishing process.
Keynote Speaker - Friday, January 23, 2015
Regeta Slaughter
Regeta Slaughter recently retired from the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science as a clinical lecturer which included teaching middle school mathematics method courses for undergraduate as well as graduate students, Algebra Initiative courses for CPS teachers as well as serving as field supervisor for secondary mathematics student teachers. She also worked on the Algebra Intensification project, a collaboration with UIC and the Dana Center at the University of Texas – Austin that addresses struggling students in 9th grade algebra. She was part of the support team for Gear Up high schools that were implementing Intensified Algebra.
Prior to this position, Regeta served as Director of Mathematics for Chicago Public Schools in the Office of Mathematics and Science. In this position she oversaw the mathematics instruction for k-12 for over 400 elementary schools and 100 high schools and was an integral part of the implementation of the Chicago Math and Science Initiative (CMSI) in 2003.
Before moving to the CPS Central Office, Regeta was Assistant Principal at Future Commons High School in CPS and taught high school mathematics at Lane Technical High School. While at Lane, she became one of the coordinators of the College Preparatory Mathematics Program, an NSF funded program supported by the University of Illinois at Chicago. The program was responsible for drastically increasing the number of under represented minorities in AP Calculus at Lane.
Regeta received her B.A. in mathematics education and M. A. in curriculum and instruction from Chicago State University. She has served on North Central Accreditation and Critical Friends Committee and is a member of Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, and Benjamin Banneker Association. Regeta served as the Co-Program Chair for the Chicago - 2006 Regional National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference. In 2007, Regeta served as the Co-Program Chair for the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2007 Pre-Conference.
Married for 40 years, her two adult children and two grandchildren that reside in Atlanta, Georgia, keep her busy while still finding time to continuing a commitment to mathematics learning for students and improvement of developing effective mathematics teachers.
Regeta Slaughter
Regeta Slaughter recently retired from the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science as a clinical lecturer which included teaching middle school mathematics method courses for undergraduate as well as graduate students, Algebra Initiative courses for CPS teachers as well as serving as field supervisor for secondary mathematics student teachers. She also worked on the Algebra Intensification project, a collaboration with UIC and the Dana Center at the University of Texas – Austin that addresses struggling students in 9th grade algebra. She was part of the support team for Gear Up high schools that were implementing Intensified Algebra.
Prior to this position, Regeta served as Director of Mathematics for Chicago Public Schools in the Office of Mathematics and Science. In this position she oversaw the mathematics instruction for k-12 for over 400 elementary schools and 100 high schools and was an integral part of the implementation of the Chicago Math and Science Initiative (CMSI) in 2003.
Before moving to the CPS Central Office, Regeta was Assistant Principal at Future Commons High School in CPS and taught high school mathematics at Lane Technical High School. While at Lane, she became one of the coordinators of the College Preparatory Mathematics Program, an NSF funded program supported by the University of Illinois at Chicago. The program was responsible for drastically increasing the number of under represented minorities in AP Calculus at Lane.
Regeta received her B.A. in mathematics education and M. A. in curriculum and instruction from Chicago State University. She has served on North Central Accreditation and Critical Friends Committee and is a member of Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, and Benjamin Banneker Association. Regeta served as the Co-Program Chair for the Chicago - 2006 Regional National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference. In 2007, Regeta served as the Co-Program Chair for the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2007 Pre-Conference.
Married for 40 years, her two adult children and two grandchildren that reside in Atlanta, Georgia, keep her busy while still finding time to continuing a commitment to mathematics learning for students and improvement of developing effective mathematics teachers.
Keynote Speaker - Saturday, January 24, 2015
Marisol Becerra
Marisol Becerra is a Chicana environmental justice scholar-activist from Chicago’s Little Village. An alumna of Curie High School (2007), she participated in service learning with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) where she spearheaded OurMap of Environmental Justice, a multi-media community mapping project that documents community assets and environmental concerns through youth-created videos with which to educate peers.
Marisol piloted an environmental justice curriculum to engage local environmental debates in the classroom through role playing and participatory research. Using popular education pedagogy, she bridges the gap between the social sciences and STEM fields by making science culturally relevant and engages youth in critical thinking on issues impacting inner-city neighborhoods, such as land redevelopment and gentrification.
Marisol is a Gates Millennium Scholar, Ronald E. McNair Scholar, and recipient of the prestigious Brower Youth Award (2008) in recognition of her environmental advocacy. Currently, she is a PhD student in Environmental Sociology at the Ohio State University. Marisol is committed to diversify the Environmental Science field through mentorship for underrepresented students.
Marisol Becerra
Marisol Becerra is a Chicana environmental justice scholar-activist from Chicago’s Little Village. An alumna of Curie High School (2007), she participated in service learning with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) where she spearheaded OurMap of Environmental Justice, a multi-media community mapping project that documents community assets and environmental concerns through youth-created videos with which to educate peers.
Marisol piloted an environmental justice curriculum to engage local environmental debates in the classroom through role playing and participatory research. Using popular education pedagogy, she bridges the gap between the social sciences and STEM fields by making science culturally relevant and engages youth in critical thinking on issues impacting inner-city neighborhoods, such as land redevelopment and gentrification.
Marisol is a Gates Millennium Scholar, Ronald E. McNair Scholar, and recipient of the prestigious Brower Youth Award (2008) in recognition of her environmental advocacy. Currently, she is a PhD student in Environmental Sociology at the Ohio State University. Marisol is committed to diversify the Environmental Science field through mentorship for underrepresented students.
Keynote Speaker - Saturday, January 25, 2014
Tammera Holmes is President and CEO of AeroStar Consulting Corporation, a professional aviation consulting and support services company. Through her company, she conducts aviation exploration workshops, leadership training and mentoring in the K-12 setting through her Aviation Academic Initiative and Aerostars Aviation Exploration Apprenticeship program. A primary focus of Aerostars is to introduce students to careers in aviation as well as provide a support system to post-secondary students seeking aviation-related licenses, certifications and degrees through innovative STEM curriculum, internships, mentoring and after school programs such as After School Matters.
Ms. Holmes has worked as a business manager, project administrator and aviation consultant with Landrum and Brown for its Chicago office. Notable projects that she has worked on include: Green Airport Initiatives, Clean Construction Bid Specifications for the O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP), FAA Guidance for the Voluntary Airport Low Emissions Program, O'Hare and Midway School Noise Abatement Programs and the FAA Environmental Impact Statement for OMP. She has also worked on environmental mitigation research for OMP for wetlands, noise abatement, energy supply, natural resources, hazardous materials and emissions.
Ms. Holmes is the recipient of the 2011 Bessie Coleman Legacy Foundation "Fly Sister Fly" Distinction Award, was After School Matters Instructor of the Month in November 2012 and honored as one of the City of Chicago's Dynamic Women in Aviation in 2005. She holds a B.S. degree in Aviation Management from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and is pursuing her M.S. in Management at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Tammera Holmes is President and CEO of AeroStar Consulting Corporation, a professional aviation consulting and support services company. Through her company, she conducts aviation exploration workshops, leadership training and mentoring in the K-12 setting through her Aviation Academic Initiative and Aerostars Aviation Exploration Apprenticeship program. A primary focus of Aerostars is to introduce students to careers in aviation as well as provide a support system to post-secondary students seeking aviation-related licenses, certifications and degrees through innovative STEM curriculum, internships, mentoring and after school programs such as After School Matters.
Ms. Holmes has worked as a business manager, project administrator and aviation consultant with Landrum and Brown for its Chicago office. Notable projects that she has worked on include: Green Airport Initiatives, Clean Construction Bid Specifications for the O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP), FAA Guidance for the Voluntary Airport Low Emissions Program, O'Hare and Midway School Noise Abatement Programs and the FAA Environmental Impact Statement for OMP. She has also worked on environmental mitigation research for OMP for wetlands, noise abatement, energy supply, natural resources, hazardous materials and emissions.
Ms. Holmes is the recipient of the 2011 Bessie Coleman Legacy Foundation "Fly Sister Fly" Distinction Award, was After School Matters Instructor of the Month in November 2012 and honored as one of the City of Chicago's Dynamic Women in Aviation in 2005. She holds a B.S. degree in Aviation Management from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and is pursuing her M.S. in Management at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Friday Keynote Speaker - 2013
William Ayers, formerly Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), founder of both the Small Schools Workshop and the Center for Youth and Society, has written extensively about social justice, democracy and education, the cultural contexts of schooling, and teaching as an essentially intellectual, ethical, and political enterprise.
His articles have appeared in numerous scholarly and popular journals, and his books include Teaching Toward Freedom; A Kind and Just Parent; Fugitive Days; On the Side of the Child; Teaching the Personal and the Political; (with Ryan Alexander-Tanner) To Teach: The Journey, in Comics; (with Kevin Kumashiro, Erica Meiners, Therese Quinn, and David Stovall) Teaching Toward Democracy; (with Bernardine Dohrn) Race Course. Edited books include (with Janet Miller) A Light in Dark Times: Maxine Greene and the Unfinished Conversation; (with Therese Quinn and Jean Ann Hunt) Teaching for Social Justice; and (with Therese Quinn and David Stovall) the Handbook of Social Justice in Education.
William Ayers, formerly Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), founder of both the Small Schools Workshop and the Center for Youth and Society, has written extensively about social justice, democracy and education, the cultural contexts of schooling, and teaching as an essentially intellectual, ethical, and political enterprise.
His articles have appeared in numerous scholarly and popular journals, and his books include Teaching Toward Freedom; A Kind and Just Parent; Fugitive Days; On the Side of the Child; Teaching the Personal and the Political; (with Ryan Alexander-Tanner) To Teach: The Journey, in Comics; (with Kevin Kumashiro, Erica Meiners, Therese Quinn, and David Stovall) Teaching Toward Democracy; (with Bernardine Dohrn) Race Course. Edited books include (with Janet Miller) A Light in Dark Times: Maxine Greene and the Unfinished Conversation; (with Therese Quinn and Jean Ann Hunt) Teaching for Social Justice; and (with Therese Quinn and David Stovall) the Handbook of Social Justice in Education.
Saturday Keynote Speaker - 2013
Danny Bernard Martin, University of Illinois at Chicago
Proofs and Refutations: The Truth About Black Children and Mathematics
In this presentation, I discuss how the identities of Black children as Black children and as mathematics learners are socially constructed through a process involving conjecture, evidence, verification, and proof. Based on the ways that it has typically been used in mainstream research and policy contexts, this process has led to a commonsense and largely uncontested understanding that Black children are maladaptive in their everyday behaviors and intellectually inferior to white and Asian children in mathematics. This process is also accompanied by a logic which demands that one must prove that Black children are brilliant. As a result, the brilliance of Black children in mathematics is rarely the starting point in research and policy discussions but is often framed as a counterexample. I explain why I believe this model of framing Black children's identities and competencies makes it very difficult for researchers, teachers, policy makers, and the public at large to accept and invest in the idea that Black children truly are brilliant.
Danny Bernard Martin, University of Illinois at Chicago
Proofs and Refutations: The Truth About Black Children and Mathematics
In this presentation, I discuss how the identities of Black children as Black children and as mathematics learners are socially constructed through a process involving conjecture, evidence, verification, and proof. Based on the ways that it has typically been used in mainstream research and policy contexts, this process has led to a commonsense and largely uncontested understanding that Black children are maladaptive in their everyday behaviors and intellectually inferior to white and Asian children in mathematics. This process is also accompanied by a logic which demands that one must prove that Black children are brilliant. As a result, the brilliance of Black children in mathematics is rarely the starting point in research and policy discussions but is often framed as a counterexample. I explain why I believe this model of framing Black children's identities and competencies makes it very difficult for researchers, teachers, policy makers, and the public at large to accept and invest in the idea that Black children truly are brilliant.
