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Margaret J. Kenney Award

The Margaret J. Kenney Award was created by ATMIM to honor the contributions of Peg Kenney, a beloved mathematics professor at Boston College. Peg will be greatly missed in the mathematics education community both locally and nationally. She was a gifted leader, author, and speaker. Peg was a past president of both ATMIM and ATMNE; she served on NCTM’s Board of Directors and several committees. Her influence has been phenomenal. While her command of mathematics and its teaching was extensive, Peg had a particular interest in Number Theory, Discrete Mathematics, and Geometry.

In order to honor Peg’s legacy, each year members of the ATMIM board will select an exemplary Massachusetts teacher to give a content-rich presentation in one of these three areas of mathematics.

Award Recipients:

2025: Kyle Pahigian

Why 360?! Investigating Polygons and Enhancing Student Learning Through the Rounds Process Grades 9 - 12 Room 519

How can we engage ALL learners in our classrooms, bringing math to life and creating confident problem solvers who explore, discuss, and write about the ways they understand concepts? Mathematicians explore why things work the way they do and celebrate the entire thought process. A major part of this process is the missteps that happen along the way, which lead us to discoveries we may otherwise not have explored. Reflecting on this process, while communicating our thinking and the reasoning behind it, shows how mathematical mindsets are everywhere. Dive into ways students engage meaningfully with content through access points while exploring ways the reflective Rounds process enhances practice. Investigate student engagement and discovery through complex thinking and multiple means of demonstrating learning around a geometric discovery involving polygons.

Kyle Pahigian, Worcester Public Schools; Anna Dionne, Worcester Public Schools; Kaylee Gibson, Worcester Public Schools; Nathan Kapiloff, Worcester Public Schools; Logan Satalino, Worcester Public Schools

2024: Susan Weiss

Using Literature for making Math Alive! Grades 3 – 5

Books are a great source for making math alive. We will look at several books and find ways to use the content to explore different math topics such as discrete math, computational ideas, and lots more. Bring a book that you love and we will explore together.

Susan Weiss, Schechter Boston

2023: David Poras

Using Free Virtual Manipulatives at Polypad to Engage in Math Exploration and Discovery All Grade Levels

Manipulatives can transform how students make meaning of important ideas by making abstract relationships visible, by teaching creativity and problem-solving, and by allowing students to explore and discover. Learn how virtual manipulatives can mirror these effects and support more complex interactions that are not possible in the physical world. Participants will learn about many different types of virtual manipulatives: from number bars, algebra tiles, and polygons; to prime factor circles, custom probability tools, and an interactive balance scale.

David Poras, Twitter: @daveporas, Mathigon Studio at Amplify

2019: Jay Schiffman

Engage Your Students in Rich Problems Correlating to The Standards For Mathematical Practice Grades 6 - 12

Good problem solving is paramount in our current environment. This hands-on workshop will engage participants in rich problem tasks selected from algebra, geometry, number and operations, pre-calculus, calculus and discrete mathematics. Participants working in small groups will reason quantitatively and abstractly, explore connections among disciplines with these rich tasks, engage in productive struggle and apply appropriate tools strategically. The problems addressed permeate numerous grade levels in the spirit that a good problem does not expire!

Jay Schiffman, Rowan University, NJ

2017: Dr. Mary Sullivan

Take a risk: Be square in your math classroom!

Explore problems that focus on squares - consider how they stimulate curiosity, connect across math content areas and grades, and engage students and teachers as Co-investigators.

Dr. Mary Sullivan

Mary Sullivan from Dedham, MA has been selected to be the first Margaret J. Kenney Presenter at our 2017 ATMIM Spring Conference. Mary has been a frequent and popular speaker at mathematics conferences and is Professor Emerita of Mathematics and Secondary Education at Rhode Island College and past director of RI STEM Center. Mary, a former faculty member at Curry College, was a student, colleague, and close friend of Peg Kenney.

ATMIM is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization. Street Address, City, State 123456

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