Newton Moore Senior High School head of maths Ashley Stewart has been presented with a national award in recognition of her efforts to mentor women in maths.
Mrs Stewart was selected from 10 finalists as the winner of the 2017 Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute choose maths prize for her innovate approach to engaging Indigenous students.
She realised traditional teaching approaches were failing to engage some of the students, so she implemented a year eight engineering course with a number of hands on activities.
The success of the initiative has seen similar courses rolled out across all of the school’s year groups.
Mrs Stewart encouraged her students to enter the Mathematical Modelling Challenge, with Newton Moore entering their first all-girls team.
The school was just one of seven in Australia to have three teams in the competition.
The year eight, all-girl Aboriginal living and leading class also successfully constructed and tested a hand cranked phone charger.
AMSI choose maths project director Janine Mcintosh said Mrs Stewart was very deserving of recognition for her commitment to fostering teacher confidence and mathematical success in and beyond the classroom.
In recognition of Mrs Stewart’s success, the choose maths prize comes with a cheque for $20,000 to purchase new technology for the school.
