White House Author

Jemal Graham, 2010 U.S. Department of Education Classroom Fellow, Middle School 113. Jemal came into teaching through New York Teaching Fellows eight years ago explicitly to serve as a role model for black and male children at the critical middle school years. As a result, he has taught students at Ronald Edmonds Learning Center in Brooklyn NY since. Starting his career in finance, Jemal understands how critical it is for his students to see the link between the math content that they learn in class and the potential applications of math in the real world. With that in mind, he founded a new chapter of NFTE [what does this stand for?] at his school. Through interactive, hands on projects, Jemal integrates NFTE’s curriculum of entrepreneurship and business into the everyday mathematics that he teaches in class. In 2008, he was selected as a Master Teacher with Math for America, a national organization dedicated to improving mathematics education. He also works as a Professional Development facilitator sharing techniques and best practices with other teachers. As a Teaching Ambassador Fellow, Jemal has been active in promoting the role of black males and effective math teachers as key to our educational futures. Jemal is in the process of applying for National Board Certification and has been told that should he receive it, he will be only the 2nd black male in the state of New York to do this.