BBA Math News & Announcements
Dear BBA Family,
I want to honor the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the countless others who have lost their lives to senseless acts of racial violence. My heartfelt prayers are with their families and communities.
For several days, I have struggled to respond to the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the resistance that has followed.
I have struggled because I am tired.
I am weary of the anti-Black racism running throughout every fiber of the world in which we live.
I am tired of the hashtags and demonizing of victims of state-sanctioned violence.
I am tired of watching the killing of Black people over and over and over again.
I am tired of “waiting on the facts” before arrests are made only for acquittals to follow those arrests.
Enough is enough!
While I am mentally and emotionally weary, my spirit remains strong. My spirit empowers me to continue to fight to be Black and live. I will resist the evil of anti-Black racism by fighting for justice. Though we may fight in different ways, what matters is that we resist. Wars are won by using multiple tactics. What matters most is that we unite and stand in solidarity in our fight against systemic racism, inequity and oppression.
Through our vision and mission, the Benjamin Banneker Association has committed to dismantling barriers that hinder all children – particularly African American children from having equitable opportunities to study and achieve in mathematics. Systemic racism and inequities are barriers that must be dismantled and can be through our collective actions. While we have made some progress, there is so much more to be done.
As we move forward, let us act on the position shared in NCTM’s Statement on George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Dr. Trena L. Wilkerson, NCTM President and Dr. Robert Berry, NCTM Past President, encouraged us to use mathematics as an analytic tool to challenge power, privilege, and oppression, to challenge systems of oppression that privilege some while disadvantaging others and to create socially and emotionally safe spaces for [ourselves], [our] students, and colleagues.
Let us also not forget to take care of ourselves. In the words of Audrey Lorde, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
In solidarity,
Crystal Morton
BBA President
Eight students from Ethel M. Young Elementary in Houston ISD were challenged by their instructor, retired mathematics specialist Mrs. Kay Perry, to complete the following Benjamin Banneker Math Puzzle:
“I used lunch time to have 3 groups of 5th graders to work out Benjamin Banneker’s Mathematics Puzzle,” said Mrs. Perry. “ALL three groups have successfully completed that puzzle.” This math puzzle is one of many mathematical puzzles developed by Benjamin Banneker, and is featured on the AP Central website as a problem given to tenth grade students!
The names of these students are Federick Johnson, Desmond Pullins, Keyona Egans, Corneshia Whitfield, Samantha Alvarado, Matthew Ray, Javeon Turner, Troy Grant.
Ethel M. Young Elementary Students Complete the Benjamin Banneker Math Puzzle: (L – R) Keyona Egans, Corneshia Whitfield, Matthew Ray, Javeon Turner, Fedrick Johnson (red shirt), Troy Grant, Desmond Pullins (Samantha Alvarado, pictured below, had to leave early) 
Ethel M. Young Elementary Students Complete Benjamin Banneker Math Puzzle – pictured, Samatha Alvarado
The students were recognized on February 28, 2019 during their school Black History Month program. Congratulations to these students for their perseverance and success, and to Mrs. Perry, the administration, staff and community of Ethel M. Young Elementary for the great work being done to develop positive mathematical identities in the next generation!
Greatness at work at Ethel M. Young Elementary – Principal, Mrs. Novelyn Watson-Robinson, Instructional Specialist for Math and Science, Ms. Cheveron Terry 
Helping students achieve greatness at every level! – Mrs. Kay Perry, retired mathematics specialist 
The Benjamin Banneker Puzzle along with problem solving strategies and tools students used to solve it
Seven outstanding students from Orange County Public Schools (Orlando, FL) were honored for their hard work and accomplishments in STEM. The students were recognized at the OCPS school board meeting this month as Benjamin Banneker Association STEM Awardees, and also received gift bags and a $100 gift card from the local CFE Credit Union.
Here are a few of the students’ accomplishments which led to their being recognized with this award:
| Racquelle Moxey is a senior at Apopka High School She plans to be a biology major. She hopes to spend the abundance of her time researching in laboratories focusing on neuroscience or molecular genetics. |
| Payton Croskey is a senior at Dr. Phillips High School She started a “Girls Who Code Club” at Dr. Phillips. She intend on entering this field to represent underserved communities through computers and programs. |
| Nkosi Watts is a senior at Freedom High School She would like to combine her passion for software engineering and her interest in psychology to develop an application that helps explain the behaviors of children with mental disabilities. |
| Tanaiya Wilson is a senior at Jones High School Being in the top 5% of her graduating class and Student Government President provides the drive for Tanaiya to become an occupational therapist. She hopes to one day own her own Non-profit organization. |
| Henry Okonkwo is a senior at Lake Nona High School He is a member of the first ever high school partnered NASA Project and the 45th Weather squadron. He plans to major in Biochemistry, and eventually become a Pediatrician. |
| David Jasmin is a senior at Ocoee High School He is in the top 5% of his graduating class. David took 6 Advanced Placement classes last year, and is taking 5 additional AP classes this year. He hopes these studies will help him to pursue a career in the medical field as an anesthesiologist. |
| Ta’Neil Malcolm is a senior at Olympia High School Being creative and thinking outside the box, Ta’Neil plans to major in Biomedical Sciences. She desires to affect the lives of others by becoming a pediatric Surgeon. |
“As the immediate past-president of the Benjamin Banneker Association Inc., and a product of the Orange County public school system, I am honored and humbled to recognize some S.T.E.M. fabulous students from the Orange County Public School district. S.T.E.M. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, with a focus on Mathematics,” says Margaret Walker.
The student’s grade point averages ranges from 4.86 to 5.19. In addition, all of them have taken or are presently taking Advance Placement courses, which include AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics with one student taking IB Statistics and Introductory to Differential Equations.
On February 9, 2019 the Benjamin Banneker Association in partnership with the Rice University School Mathematics Project (RUSMP) celebrated Black History Month through the Spring Networking Conference.
BBA President, Brea Ratliff, was the keynote speaker, and Milby High School students created over 50 Benjamin Banneker clocks to recognize the outstanding work and contributions of the First African American Man of Science”.
View a video of the Milby High School students’ artwork here.
If a black student has just one or two black teachers in elementary school, that student is significantly more likely to enroll in college, a new Johns Hopkins University study has found…[click here to continue reading this article]
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