Middle School Educator Receives International Math Award

Joseph Obrycki, Central Academy mathematics instructor, has been nominated and selected as a 2009 winner of an Edyth May Sliffe Award for Distinguished Junior High/Middle School Mathematics Teaching.

Obrycki is one of 52 teachers selected from all of the high schools in the United States and Canada for this international recognition. This award, administered by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), recognizes teachers who have contributed substantially to the success of some of the highest scoring students on the American Mathematics Contest 8.

“Mr. Obrycki is a teacher who has the special gift of relating to students who are highly advanced in mathematics,” said Barb Adams, K-12 Mathematics Curriculum Coordinator. “He speaks the ‘language’ of math and fosters enthusiasm about problems that may appear to be unsolvable.”

Obrycki has taught in Des Moines Public Schools and at Central Academy for two years. For receiving this award, he was granted a year membership in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and also received a Mathematical Association of America tie and t-shirt.

The MAA is a 28,000-member organization devoted to mathematics education at the college level. The Edyth May Sliffe Award program is designed to recognize and reward outstanding teachers for their efforts in the development of mathematical talents of high school students. The Sliffe Award has been presented to high school teachers since 1989 and to middle school teachers since 1995.