Ella Hereth

Indianapolis, IN | 7-12, Mathematics, 2023

What motivates you to contribute to excellence in STEM teaching?

I have worked in math education for 15 years and I have really seen the tests and the standards change to move toward more rigorous college and career ready standards, but I haven't always seen instructors adapt or change their teaching. In a world that will be increasingly dominated by Artificial Intelligence, our students need to be able to think critically, not just repeat steps from an algorithm. It's vital that teachers change how they are teaching math to meet the needs of tomorrow.

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

When I started in my schools, students were compliant, but students weren't very engaged. I used what I had learned through networking with math teachers and math teacher professional organizations around the country to help shift the thinking of not just the administration at my school but district leaders as well. I really enjoy seeing some of the things I've introduced used in other classrooms in my school and in my district.

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

I hope to be able to share ideas and instruction strategies with educators locally and throughout the state. I think it's important that teachers are leading this movement to change math instruction because we see first hand what is or isn't working and I believe strongly that educators more positively to other educators.

Biography

Ella Hereth has taught middle school and high school mathematics in Indianapolis for 13 years. She has worked at John Marshall High School and Harshman Middle School in Indianapolis Public Schools as well as Guion Creek Middle School and Lawrence North High School. Ella currently serves as a Mathematics Instructional Coach at Harshman Middle School in Indianapolis Public Schools. Ella is passionate about getting students up, moving, and thinking in her classroom. Students are more likely to be standing at a vertical white board and collaborating with peers than sitting in their seats. She enjoys hearing, watching, and listening to students struggle productively with mathematics tasks. Ella has helped transform the school’s culture to one of more collaboration, movement, and engagement. She has shared this work with teachers across the state through presentations at various conferences, podcasts, and blog posts. Ella has a B.A. from the University of Chicago and an M.A.T. from Marian University. She is Nationally Board Certified in early adolescent mathematics and is certified by the state to teach mathematics in grades 5-12 and English as a new language in grades K-12. She is also a certified elementary mathematics specialist.

High-resolution version of the teacher profile photograph

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