Darlene M. Martin
Grafton High School
Grafton, WV

"Being sensitive to the backgrounds and interests of high school students can provide a basis on which to build lessons that engage and appeal to students in mathematics. I have enjoyed incorporating the arts with mathematics. It has been an avenue of excitement, exploration, and enrichment in my life as well as my students'. I have aimed to instill in my students that mathematics is in everything and is everywhere. Mathematics is in the design of a Frank Lloyd Wright window, the pattern of an English knot garden, the silhouette of a Fabergé egg, and the structure of a musical score."

"Mrs. Martin's commitment to excellence in terms of the whole student is second to none. She has been a leader on our staff in implementation of a work-based component to complement students' academic preparation for future employment."

From a knot garden to a garden pathway, from musical bars to racing cars, geometry is a subject to which all students can relate. This describes Darlene's classroom. "Plain Walls to Plane Walls" is a project that she has used to define her classroom environment since 1991. Previously, when it came time to introduce the concepts of points, lines, and planes, she would use a cardboard box to illustrate the various ideas. One day it occurred to her: the classroom could illustrate the box, and the class could be inside the model. She painted each of the walls in the classroom a different color. It was easy to refer to the pink plane, the blue plane, and so on. In addition, she put tape down the corners of the room to illustrate that two planes intersect to create a line. Ping-pong balls were suspended with fishing line representing points. From the students' desks, the points appeared to be suspended in midair. Two retractable clotheslines were pulled from mounts across the room and fastened on hooks to illustrate intersecting lines, parallel lines, and skew lines. This activity motivated students from the moment they stepped into the classroom. When students walked into her geometry class, instead of being greeted by four "plain walls" they saw four "plane walls" and discussion began immediately.

Other Highlights:

• Grafton High School Teacher of the Year, 1981
• Milken Family Foundation National Educator, 1999
• Grafton Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year, 2000
• Grafton Rotary Honor Teacher
• Published article "Plain Walls to Plane Walls," Mathematics Teacher, 1995
• Presented "Plain Walls to Plane Walls," Milken Family Foundation National Education Conference, 2000
• Wright Angles, WVCTM State Conference, March, 2001
• America's Math "Score", WVCTM State Conference, March, 2003
• Recipient of the following grants: Plain Walls to Plane Walls, WV Education Alliance, 1990; Building Self Esteem in Mathematics, WV Education Alliance, 1991; Par for the Math Course, WV Education Alliance, 1992; Wright Angles, WV Education Alliance, 1993; Stepping Stones, WV Education Alliance, 1994; Math Thyme, WV Education Alliance, 1999; Focus on Fabergé, WV Education Alliance, 2000; America's Math "Score", WV Education Alliance, 2001; DECALculations, WV Education Alliance, 2002; COGnitive Math, WV Education Alliance, 2003
• National Education Association member
• West Virginia Education Association member
• West Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (WVCTM) member
• Alpha Delta Kappa member