NEW PARIS — National Trail High School math teacher Judy Brown was recently named District #3 Ohio Teacher of the Year after being nominated for Ohio Teacher of the Year by NT student Jamison Watts.

The state of Ohio is divided into 11 districts. District #3 includes Preble County, Miami County, Montgomery County and Butler County.

Brown teaches Math 9, Algebra 2 and precalculus at National Trail, where she has taught high school mathematics for the last eight years. She began her career as a junior high mathematics teacher in the Northwest Local School District in Cincinnati and later became the career coordinator for the district of over 10,000 students.

Brown wrote curriculum and presented workshops for the Greater Cincinnati Teacher of Mathematics, Ohio Teacher of Mathematics and the National Teacher of Mathematics organizations, as well as at Wright State University and numerous school districts. She enjoyed teaching a graduate mathematics methods class at Mount Saint Joseph University and co-founding a STEM School.

Brown served as a leader for the Dayton Area Mathematics Teachers Circle and has served as a mentor and has been mentored through Inspire Up since its inception. While studying for her bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from Miami University, Brown received the Christofferson Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching.

“Her passion is for students and mathematics and integrating the two through project-based learning,” a press release noted. She has written six online books which are used in Africa, where she taught during the summer four years ago. “Brown believes that mathematics enriches the lives of students and provides opportunities for lifelong learning, especially for young women.”

Brown is working with Dr. Jeff Wanko, a professor at Miami University, who has long collaborated with Brown on projects and college visits to his pre-service mathematics teachers’ classes. They are investigating the role that games, logical puzzles, and technology play in developing deductive reasoning skills and the ability to determine if solutions are reasonable. The team will present their findings at an international symposium in May. Brown has written and received a Martha Holden Jennings grant as part of the award.

The State Teachers of the Year were recognized at the State Board of Education meeting in December in Columbus. Charlotte McGuire, the District #3 state board representative, presented Brown her award at the ceremony. They were no strangers as Charlotte had previously visited Brown’s classroom to observe a culminating project where students drew a picture and found the equations that modeled the design to draw it on the graphing calculator. McGuire commented on how engaged the students were and how much they enjoyed the individualized project, according to Brown.

Since its inception in 1964, the Ohio Teacher of the Year program annually identifies exceptional teachers statewide celebrating their effective work in and outside the classroom. The mission of the program is to provide opportunities for professional learning to exemplary teachers as leaders and advocates for public education.

Each year, the Ohio Teacher of the Year nominations are open February through early April. School administrators, colleagues, community members, parents or students may submit a nomination for one or multiple teachers from a school or district. State Board of Education members assist with the recognition program activities. Following an in-depth nomination, application and selection process this year, 11 State Board District Teachers of the Year were selected for 2024.

Selected teachers move through two levels of recognition: the State Board District Teacher of the Year as a regional recognition and the Ohio Teacher of the Year as the state-level recognition.

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.