Guest MINDSETTER™ Rogachefsky: The Importance of Making Math Fun
Marty Rogachefsky, Guest MINDSETTER™
Guest MINDSETTER™ Rogachefsky: The Importance of Making Math Fun
My path in education began when I joined Teach For America. I’d always loved learning and mentoring, and I looked forward to working with students who didn’t always have equal access to educational opportunities. I was a little surprised when I discovered I would be teaching high school math – it hadn’t exactly been my favorite subject growing up, and fifty percent of my incoming students had failed Algebra I the year before. How was I supposed to engage kids who have learned to despise math when I wasn’t math’s biggest cheerleader myself? I had to earn their trust.
The first day of class, I told all of my students that I would not let them fail my class. I learned to struggle with them through lessons, and I did what I could to make class more engaging. We did scavenger hunts, debates, murder mysteries, brain puzzles, and tons of skill-building games. I put them on teams and made them compete against each other. I remember one particular afternoon when I was working with a student from a different math class. After she was finished with a problem, she said, “Aren’t you Mr. Rogachefsky? You’re the one who makes math fun!” Surprised yet pleased, I chuckled, “You’re probably thinking of someone else.”
By the end of that year, my classes had averaged five years of growth in math and 90% of them passed my class. It wasn’t all fun and games, of course; I initially struggled with classroom management and weekends consisted of rethinking procedures and finding relevant examples, but eventually I worked to bring in guest speakers, take my kids on field trips, and teach life skills such as coding and financial literacy. I can’t help but think how much math can truly transform young lives.
As we are finally recovering from the fallout of predatory lending practices, as we continue to become a more computer-dependent society, and as big data has become the forefront of business, we need now, more than ever, an emphasis on math education. Showing kids just some of these possibilities is crucial to ensuring that we hand our future over to responsible young minds.
The last two years, I’ve made it my goal to expose students to their future by organizing six different field trips centered around college and careers. On a recent trip to the University of Rhode Island, one of my kids asked a panel of 30 college students a simple question: Have you ever thought about dropping out? More than half of the panel raised their hand. It is so difficult for students to progress when they don’t see an end. Many of my students have challenges at home, but math gives us hope that every problem has a solution. And my students give me hope in the future leaders of tomorrow.
Teach for America has exposed me to a problem that has been unsolved for centuries: how do we overcome boundaries of race and class to unlock the potential of every child? By having tireless, mission-driven leaders in high positions of power, we can one day hope to develop an equation for success.
Marty Rogachefsky was a 2014 Teach For America – Rhode Island corps member and teaches math at E-Cubed Academy.
The Power List - Health and Education, 2016
Inside Man
Russell Carey - A name few outside of Brown’s campus know, but Carey is the power source at the Providence Ivy League institution.
Today, his title is Executive Vice President and he has had almost every title at Brown short of President. Carey is a 1991 graduate of Brown and has never left College Hill.
While Brown’s President Christine Paxson — who is functionally invisible in Rhode Island — is managing alumni affairs and fundraising, Carey is influencing almost everything in Rhode Island.
Top Raimondo Appointment
Nicole Alexander-Scott - MD, MPH, and rock star in the making. As Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, she is fast developing a reputation as someone in the Raimondo Administration who can get things done. Her counsel and leadership on developing a strategy on opioid addiction has been widely been lauded.
In addition, she has handled the mundane - from beach closings to food recalls - with competency. An expert in infectious disease, it may be time for her to become a strong leader on Zika.
The CEO
Ronald Machtley - Bryant University's President rightfully deserves to be on a lot of lists, but what few understand is that Machtley’s influence extends far beyond Bryant’s campus in Smithfield. Machtley could make this list as a business leader or as a political force as much as for education.
Machtley is recognized for transforming Bryant University from a financially struggling regional college to a university with a national reputation for business.
Machtley serves on Amica’s Board and the Rhode Island Foundation, and also serves on the Board of Fantex Brands.
Power Broker
Larry Purtill - While Bob Walsh gets the face time as the Executive Director in the media for the NEA of Rhode Island, NEARI President Purtill tends to be the inside man who gets things done.
The teachers' largest union is formidable, but is still reeling from the beat down it took when Gina Raimondo’s pension reform cut the benefits of teachers disproportionately over other employee groups.
Make no mistake about it - not much happens in education in Rhode Island without Purtill's sign-off.
Visionary
Mim Runey - While Rhode Islanders wait, and wait some more, for development on the 195 land, Johnson and Wale's University's Runey is watching it come to fruition, as JWU is set to open the first completed building on the former Interstate on September 1, when it will host a ribbon cutting for its John J. Bowen Center for Science and Innovation.
Under Runey, JWU continues to establish its foothold as one of the country's top schools for culinary training. Now Runey will oversee the addition of the new building on the old 195 which will house the university's School of Engineering and Design and its biology program.
In 2015, students from the School of Engineering & Design participated in the construction of the Holocaust Memorial on South Main Street, a collaboration between the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and the Holocaust Education Resource Center of Rhode Island.
A true community partner in every sense, JWU under Runey's watchful eye is expanding to an even greater presence in Providence.
Chairman of the Board
Edwin J. Santos - The former banker is Chairman of the Board of CharterCare, after having been a top executive at Citizens Bank. He has been a board leader for Crossroads, Washington Trust, Rocky Hill School -- you name it and Santos has helped to lead it.
His best work to date just might be at CharterCare, where he has helped the once fledgling hospital (Roger Williams Medical Center) into a growing hospital system.
Lion Tamer
Weber Shill - He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of University Orthopedics, or in other words, dozens and dozens of oh-so-confident docs.
Shill has a background in Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration from the Whitemore School at the University of New Hampshire. Experienced in managing medical groups, but this group is big and influential.
Boss
Timothy Babineau - President and CEO of Lifespan, Rhode Island's biggest healthcare organization, where financial challenges make the job that much more complicated.
Now, the critics (GoLocalProv included) are raising concerns about the multi- billion dollar organization's refusal to make any contribution to the City of Providence. Lifespan is like General Motors, big and hard to innovate the organization.
