Nova Pleman

Lexington, KY | K-6, Mathematics, 2022

What has been the most transformative moment that affirmed your impact on STEM education?

I recently told a parent of a gifted student one of the most important things we can teach students is "what to do when you don't know what to do." Academic success had previously always come easily to this high-performing child. When she finally encountered challenging work in my classroom, she wanted to give up. It was wonderful to see this child learn to struggle for the first time in her school career. By the end of the semester, she told me, "It feels so much better to 'get it' AFTER I've wrestled with it for a while!" This child had already mastered the content standards, but in my class, she learned how to be an actual mathematician. This small yet simple experience affirmed I am creating a space for STEM thinking to flourish.

Using your platform as a Presidential Awardee, how do you hope to advance our nation in STEM?

Being an Awardee opened the door for influence beyond the four walls of my classroom. As a math consultant with Kentucky Department of Education, I now create vibrant professional learning experiences for educators across the Commonwealth impacting students in every corner of my state. I will also facilitate the rewriting of our state math standards, helping to ensure K-12 instruction is driven by rich content standards and helping Kentucky learners develop lifelong STEM interest and skills.

Biography

Nova Pleman began her career in the Los Angeles Unified School District, teaching first and fourth grades for five years at Weigand Avenue Elementary School. She then went on to teach at Glendover Elementary School and Russell Cave Elementary School as a classroom instructor and teacher of English learners for five years before working at Booker T. Washington Elementary School, where she spent three years self-contained classroom teaching and taught fourth and fifth grade mathematics for four years. She taught fifth grade mathematics at Garden Springs Elementary until May 2025 when she transitioned to the Kentucky Department of Education as an elementary math consultant. Nova is on a mission to rebrand mathematics as a subject accessible to all and strives to show her students that each one of them can be a "math person". She is enthusiastic about sharing her love for mathematics and teaches students to embrace productive struggle. Nova looks for ways to help mathematics make sense to her students. She incorporates real-world contexts and hands-on experiences, including transforming the classroom into a bakery to study fractions, a pizzeria to study angles, or a football field to calculate measurements. Nova has presented sessions on number routines and increasing student discourse for teachers at the local and state level. Nova has a B.A. in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a multiple subject teaching credential from California State University San Marcos. She is certified in elementary education and K-12 English as a new language. Nova is also a National Board Certified Teacher.

High-resolution version of the official portrait photograph
High-resolution version of the teacher profile photograph

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