Josh Essery

Josh teaches Grades 6 and 7 at T̓łisa̱lagi’lakw School in ‘Yalis, BC. This is his 9th year teaching, with seven years in ‘Yalis, also known as Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, which is located at the meeting point of the Broughton and Johnstone Straits. Situated in unceded Kwakwaka’wakw territory, ‘Yalis is home to the world’s tallest k̓i’kw (totem pole).

Presentation: Josh discusses his journey creating culturally relevant maths resources seated in Kwakwaka’wakw language, culture, and place. Josh illuminates the challenges faced creating these resources, including accessing relevant materials, working with knowledge-keepers, self-doubt, and sustainability concerns. Josh further discusses some resources created using Q’um Q’um Xiiem’s Storywork and the PAIRS framework constructed by Nicol, et. al (2013).

Johanne Nielsen and Brandi Price

Johanne Nielsen: Híy̓áu dítgvánṃ́. Johannexƛanugva. Haíɫzaqvnugva. Gáyáqḷai la tx̌as Wágḷísḷa. Hi lánugva gvúkvḷá tx̌as n̓áḷkv. Hello everyone, my name is Johanne Nielsen, I’m Heiltsuk. My traditional territory is in Bella Bella. I currently reside in North Vancouver. I have the honor of teaching as an Indigenous Education support teacher with the North Vancouver School District, on the unceded/stolen territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Brandi Price: g̱ilakas’la, nugwa’a̱m Brandi. gayutła̱n lax̱ T̕saḵwa̱luta̱n dlu’ gwa’yi. Greetings, my name is Brandi Price. I’m of both Ligwildaxw and Kwakwaka’wakw descent. My family comes from both Kingcome Inlet and Cape Mudge communities. I am a We Wai Kai band member and currently reside in Vancouver. I have been an Indigenous educator for 16 years and I am the Indigenous Literacy & Numeracy teacher in the  North Vancouver School District. I’m working to provide support for Indigenous students, building their confidence and skills in literacy and math from K-12.

Presentation: We hope to inspire more educators to pick up Indigenous Math Education in our school district. Our goals this year were A) to work collaboratively with other classroom teachers to promote lessons that highlight Indigenous Math education, primarily using traditional Indigenous games; and B) to increase communication about a designated Indigenous Math Day recurring every April.

Lena Miller and Michelle Miller-Gauthier

Lena Miller: Lena is the District Numeracy Support Teacher for SD91 Nechako Lakes, located on the traditional territories of fourteen First Nations representing the Dakelh, Nedut’en, and Wet’suwet’en peoples across five municipalities: Fort St. James, Vanderhoof, Fraser Lake, Burns Lake, and Granisle. Previously, she was the mathematics department head at Nechako Valley Secondary School in Vanderhoof. Over the years, she has become an advocate for fostering joy and understanding in numeracy and mathematics through culturally relevant and responsive teaching.

Michelle Miller-Gauthier: Michelle has worked for Nechako Lakes SD 91 for over 30 years. For the last 15 she has been in the role of Literacy & Inquiry Support Teacher. She has a passion for reconciliation through education using Indigenous texts, localized learning and oral storytelling.  

Presentation: Working in a geographically wide-spread rural northern district, Lena set out to make professional math learning more accessible to all staff through their public-online school’s learning platform Brightspace. Over the past year, staff has been able to access a virtual, asynchronous space to connect and share about UDL math learning with a focus on creating learning communities that emphasize culturally responsive practices.

Nichola Williams

Nichola is a non-Indigenous math/science teacher working in the Qualicum School District (SD69), which resides on Coast Salish Territory and within the shared territory of the Snaw’naw’as and Qualicum First Nations. Nichola is currently completing a Master’s of Education through UBC and is focusing on incorporating place and culture into her teaching. 

Presentation: Recently, through my masters program, I developed a secondary math lesson rooted in Indigenous storywork. In this session, I will share my key take-aways from this process and how place was a central aspect. My hope is that this sharing might provide starting points and spark ideas for bringing forward Indigenous ways of knowing and being in mathematics learning.   

Christine Younghusband and Kerry Mahlman

Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband is an Assistant Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, where she teaches in the Teacher Education Program. She is a former secondary mathematics teacher in BC public schools. Christine’s research interests include out-of-field teaching, identity development, and system change.

Caroline (Kerry) Mahlman is a recently retired District Principal in Indigenous Learning at School School District No. 46 (Sunshine Coast). She has worked in K-12 education, early childhood education, and higher education. Kerry honours and supports First Nations, Inuit and, Métis learners by walking beside them and advocating for change.

Presentation: Christine and Kerry collaborated together in 2008/09 when the revised Math 8/9 Integrated Resource Package (provincial curriculum) was released. At the time, inclusion of “Aboriginal Perspectives” in mathematics was a novel idea. This presentation will be Christine and Kerry reflecting on this collaboration and how it impacted them.

Rob Cowie and Gavin Hanna

Rob has been a District Indigenous Resource Teacher in SD43 (Coquitlam) for the past 12 years. He has developed a variety of curricula for all grades, allowing teachers to find simple ways to integrate Indigenous ways of learning and content into their practice.

Presentation: Utilizing the power of Minecraft Education, Rob and his colleague Gavin Hanna, were able to incorporate First Peoples Principles of Learning and STEAM ideology to create a virtual world known as ‘A Pacific Northwest Coast Experience’. Students enter a simulated coastal village and interact with Elders and Knowledge Keepers to assist with the harvesting of natural resources to prepare for winter.  Once finished, they then are asked to use their learning to create a sustainable village further down the coast.

Cynthia Nicol

Cynthia Nicol is a professor of mathematics education in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at UBC. Her research areas include approaches for supporting mathematics teaching that brings Indigenous community, culture, and mathematics together for all to flourish.

Presentation: We are Water: Indigenous stories, math and community. I’ll share examples of Indigenous stories to prompt students’ listening to Land (including waterways) as teacher for mathematical flourishing. These examples highlight how Indigenous Storywork principles of reverence, respect, and reciprocity align with being mathematical towards strengthening relationships with Land and more than human kin.

Christy Kendel

Christy Kendel is a Pediatric Registered Nurse and experiential educator with a passion for movement-based and relational learning. As a mother of neurodivergent children, she has spent the last 15 years researching educational approaches that support diverse learning styles and continues to support families navigating gaps in their children’s education through life coaching and advocacy.

Presentation: Math in Motion BC explores how movement-based mathematics can create more relational, engaging, and accessible learning experiences for students. Using large-scale kinesthetic math mats, Christy is interested in how embodied learning, Indigenous language integration, play, and community-centered approaches may help reconnect learners to mathematics, culture, and confidence in learning.