Brooklyn Teacher Imparts Love for Math to Middle School Students

Sheana Powell never much liked math until she took algebra in eighth grade.

“Algebra just clicked for me,” she said. “I didn’t understand math until the letters were brought in.”

Now Powell teaches algebra to eighth graders just like her at Uncommon Schools Kings Collegiate in Brooklyn and she strives to make sure the subject clicks for each of her students as well.

Powell, who is African American, said it’s important for her students to see a woman of color teaching a subject like math.

“It’s important that they know that there are numerous people of color working in these scientific areas and it’s possible for them to work in STEM too,” Powell said. “My students must know that STEM is accessible to them just as much as it’s accessible to others.”

Kings Collegiate, part of Uncommon Schools, is located in Brooklyn’s Community District 18, straddling the East Flatbush and Canarsie neighborhoods. CSD 18 is nearly 90 percent Black and 5 percent Hispanic. Over 80% of the students at Kings Collegiate qualify for free or reduced price lunch.

About 40 percent of the teachers at Uncommon Schools are teachers of color, more than double the national average. Uncommon Schools, which operates 22 schools in Brooklyn serving 7,500 students, has some of the highest student achievement results in all of New York State and last year 100 percent of its seniors were accepted to 4-year colleges.

Powell said she is determined to show low-income status doesn’t determine destiny. Last year, 90 percent of the students who took her class passed the New York Regents Exam for Algebra. In New York state overall, only 62 percent of the students taking the exam passed.

“The idea of going into high school with a Regents Exam already under your belt helps build interest in the subject,” Powell said.

Most students in New York City don’t take algebra in eighth grade. But they do at each of the 12 Uncommon Schools middle schools in Brooklyn.

Algebra is considered a gatekeeper subject, and is the first in a series of higher-level math courses needed to succeed in college. Passing it in eighth grade allows students to take calculus by their senior year of high school, often for college credit. Algebra also helps to develop the abstract reasoning skills necessary to succeed in STEM careers.

After graduating from Hampton University, Powell began working at a NYC Department of Education high school.

It was while teaching there where she first encountered the book, “Teach Like A Champion,” written by Doug Lemov, a managing director of Uncommon Schools.

Eventually, Powell attended a “Teach Like a Champion” professional development workshop at Uncommon Schools. . “It was exciting to go to the professional development session and see the author in action,” she said.

A short time later, she joined Uncommon.

Powell also earned a master’s degree from New York University and a fellowship from Math for America.

At Uncommon Schools, teachers receive over 150 hours a year of quality professional development to help them improve their craft. Teachers also get their own coach who observes and meets with them weekly.

“We get a lot of feedback,” Powell said. “The teacher in front of my students today is better than the teacher that was in front of them yesterday. I am getting better as a teacher each day and they are getting better at algebra each day.”