Those at James Madison University over the past weekend may have witnessed an unusual sight: a swarm of cars and people congregating around the ISAT (integrated science and technology) building on the Friday and Saturday of spring break. This congregation was predictably not made up of college students; instead it was a chorus of Virginia math teachers all gathered for the annual Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Activities included booths by sponsors and researchers, keynote speeches, lectures and workshops. At VTMC, teachers joined together to share teaching techniques and to discuss new propositions and materials. Amongst the speakers were several members of the VTMC board and an assortment of professors and teachers.

Hosting of the conference shifts year by year on a four-year rotation, but this year the conference was hosted by HHS. Along with many HHS math teachers attending the conference, math teacher Geoffrey Estes helped to lead the necessary activities for hosting the conference.

“It was great to see so many HCPS teachers there. Teachers from elementary middle school and high school all attended and I think it was a great opportunity for us to learn a lot about our field and extend our knowledge of the field. ” Estes said.

In addition to the contribution of HHS math teachers, several members of the HHS chapter of Mu Alpha Theta National Math Honors Society volunteered to help clean up the aftermath of the conference on Saturday. Senior Neil Mehta was one such volunteer.

“We helped clean up tables and booths at the conference. It was good to be able to do something to help the math educators in our state,” Mehta said.

With the aid of both groups, the conference went smoothly and as planned, with 980 total registrants from across the state and 154 sessions over the two days, but not without a considerable amount of work.

“[The conference] went fabulously. The VCTM board members from the state actually requested that we hold it again next year — we declined.” Estes said.