Amazing Women Speak! April 2014 | Page 6

greatness), not only does our life become amazing, but also we plant seeds for others and become real life examples that their lives can also be amazing! And LaToniya’s life IS amazing! She is the Founder/Executive Director of P.O.W.E.R. (Presenting Opportunities Winning Effectual Results) ORGANIZATION aka Power Org MATH, administrator/ teacher in higher education, an educational consultant, mentor, and future author. In addition to expanding her reach with POWER Org Math, she is finalizing the first handbook in a series titled “Well, Refresh My Math!” POWER Org Math is an educational 501c3 organization that LaToniya founded to help youth ages 4-18 see, say, and succeed with math through participation in math clubs, annual events, and family focused programs. The mission is to embrace, engage, and empower at-risk youth ages 4-18 in Metropolitan communities to increase their confidence, competency, and proficiency with math. I found early in my academic career that I was able to help classmates make meaningful math connections and wanted to do the same with children within my reach. 6 AMAZING WOMEN SPEAK! In a world where girls are usually left out of the math discussion, LaToniya encourages girls to lean in and run towards math. Collaborate with other women who use math fluently in their careers in order to broaden your options, grow more rapidly and consistently. But math is hard! I have never been good at math! Because you had problems in the past with math, does not mean you cannot learn math. This is one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding math today. Often times it’s a minor misconception or past experiences with an intimidating instructor that feeds this fear of or disconnect with math. Math is one of those unexpected opportunities in life that when embraced and mastered can change your life forever. Opportunities are all around us and are God’s communication to show us possible pathways in which to take. Mathematics creates an infinite number of opportunities and when opportunities are afforded, outside of the norm, doors are opened. And doors are flying open for LaToniya and POWER Org Math. FROM THE POWER ORG MATH BLOG: www.amazingwomannetwork.com Our Founder and Executive Director, LaToniya A. Jones, has been in the Limpopo Province collaborating with Mr. Munienge Mbolia and the Science Foundations department at the University of Venda (UNIVEN) to prepare for the POWER Org Math - South Africa GMI launch, Math Clubs and special Math Affairs since Sunday, March 23, 2014. 100 learners in grades 10-11 worked collaboratively to build bridges, rotate to small group sessions for introductions to binary coding, html language, tossing balls to simplify radical expressions and factorization (factorization), graphing and geometry bingo, French, and more during the What’s the Math in This? mini-conference. Sessions were led by Senior Math Ambassadors and UNIVEN lecturers. The initial 6 months of the GMI for POWER Org Math - South Africa will be hosted in the Milton Mpfumedzeni Secondary School for learners (students) in grades 10-12. The school is located in the Limpopo Province (Lukalo Village, near Thohoyandou). We have already received notice about others who are interested in this experience for their learners. For more information, you can visit POWER Org Math on FaceBook or at www. powertheyouth.org Written by Crystal Gunn