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 | Save the date! October 23-24, 2025 at the Dayton Convention Center 2025 Proposal Information OCTM's 75th annual conference will be held October 23-24, 2025 at the Dayton Convention Center in Dayton, Ohio. OCTM's mission is to engage, inspire, and empower with mathematics. Our conference theme this year is THE SKY'S THE LIMIT: Soaring to New Heights for 75 Years. This year's conference will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of OCTM empowering minds and hearts in mathematics. As you fill out this form, we hope to hear your vision of how to incorporate impactful mathematics and emotional growth in your session and how participants can share the joy and wonders of mathematics with diversified student populations. This year we are going to offer three kinds of sessions:
If you would like to be considered as a presenter at the conference, complete and submit this brief form online by Friday, February 7, 2025 at 9 PM Eastern. (Only one form should be submitted for each presentation proposal.) We suggest you look at our Tips and Strategies for Presenters. If your team is planning on submitting multiple proposals - wonderful! Keep in mind that only the lead presenter receives free conference registration, so plan ahead about who will be listed as the lead speaker when submitting proposals. The Lead Presenter should be the person filling out this page. All presenters must be OCTM members at the time of the conference. You can check your current membership status HERE. *Note - here is a PDF that you can use for pre-planning your proposal. |
Featured Speakers
| Vanessa Vakharia Known as the Lady Gaga of math education, Vanessa Vakharia is the founder and director of The Math Guru, a super cool boutique math & science tutoring studio in Toronto that's changing stereotypes about what math education looks like. She is also the host of the Math Therapy podcast, author of the Math Hacks Scholastic book series, author of the NEW bestselling book Math Therapy, and lead singer/keytarist for rock band Goodnight Sunrise. She has her Bachelor of Commerce, Teaching Degree, and Masters of Math Education. She appears regularly on national television and news outlets as an expert in math education and math positivity, and her #goals are to be Oprah-level-famous and to totally change math culture so that STEM is finally as cool as every single Taylor Swift song ever written. She failed Grade 11 math twice, which was the best thing that ever happened to her. |
| Dr. Charles Bowman Dr. Bowman is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and a background as a high school and college mathematics educator. His lived experience as an underrepresented Black male in education shapes his commitment to challenging stereotypes and fostering inclusive classroom environments that highlight the brilliance of all students. Believing in the transformative power of culturally relevant teaching, he bridges gaps in education while empowering marginalized communities. Additionally, he is the author of The Adventures of Charlie, a children’s book series inspired by his own life, addressing topics such as labels, confidence, role models, and aspirations. Through his books, Dr. Bowman aims to inspire and guide children, particularly those lacking advocates, by providing empowering and culturally relevant reading material during their formative years. |
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| Zarek Drozda Zarek Drozda is the Executive Director of Data Science 4 Everyone, a national initiative and coalition based at the University of Chicago. Zarek helped launch DS4E in 2019 with Freakonomics’ Steven Levitt, co-organizing a coalition of 3000+ education leaders to advance data science and data literacy education in K-12 schools across more than 25 states. Zarek also contributes to AI education policy with the Federation of American Scientists, and previously served for the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), where he led research on emerging technology and advised the national COVID response, on assignment to a joint taskforce between the White House, Department of Education, and Center for Disease Control (CDC). |
| Dr. Courtney Koestler Dr. Courtney Koestler is the director of the OHIO Center for Equity in Mathematics and Science and an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education in the Patton College of Education at Ohio University. Courtney is a proud, former public school teacher and served as a classroom teacher (grades 2, 4, 5, 7, 8) and a K-5 instructional coach in culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse communities. Courtney has been recognized for teaching, research, and outreach work that center on diversity, equity, and justice and has a number of publications including books for teachers and teacher educators and a series of children’s books that focus on connecting mathematics to critical issues in the real world. |
2025 OCTM Conference Leaders
Annual Conference Facilitator: Melissa Scoville (melissa.scoville@ohioctm.org)
Annual Conference Coordinator: Rachael Gorsuch (rachael.gorsuch@ohioctm.org)
General Co-Chairs: Margie Coleman and Corrinne Fischer (octmconference@ohioctm.org)
Program Committee Chair: Lindsay Gold (octmprogramcomm@ohioctm.org)
OCTM is an affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
