My high school mathematics teacher, Martin Badoian, was one of the first PAEMST recipients in my state. He was bigger than life to me. His genuine passion for mathematics and excitement for teaching inspired me to become a lifelong learner of mathematics. Teaching mathematics has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Mathematics should never feel like magic, but should always make sense! My deep desire for students is to help them experience the power, beauty, and relevance of mathematics.

Victoria Miles Middleborough, MA | 7-12, Mathematics, 2021

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Victoria Miles has been teaching mathematics for 29 years. For the first 16 years of her career, she was a middle school mathematics teacher and coach in Weymouth, MA, at Abigail Adams and Maria Weston Chapman Middle Schools. For the next 10 years, Victoria taught Geometry, Algebra I and II, and was the Department Leader at Middleborough High School. Victoria currently teaches high school mathematics at the Greater Commonwealth Virtual School in Massachusetts. Specifically, she teaches 9th-12th grade Geometry and 11th-12th grade Consumer Mathematics. Victoria's geometry students recently explored high school probability. Most high school geometry students have not solved probability problems since grade seven, yet probability is a pivotal domain area in the Massachusetts Framework. To correspond with mastery lessons in the probability unit, Victoria created a project called "Open Your Own Restaurant". The project helped students see the real-world relevance of concepts like set theory, Venn diagrams, classifying events, conditional probability, permutations, and combinations. An avid participant in professional development, Victoria completed two courses this year: "Working with the Range of Students in Mathematics" and "Teaching for Math Understanding". Victoria enjoys enrolling in meaningful professional development each year as a means of staying current in best practices and networking with other educators. Victoria has a B.S. in marine engineering from Massachusetts Maritime Academy and an M.S. in mathematics from Salem State University. She holds professional teaching licenses in mathematics 5-9 and 9-12. Victoria has presented at national conferences and has authored several professional publications.

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