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Bakersfield, CA

Numeracy is the Nexus: No Formulas Here! Empowering Use-Oriented Mathematics

Grant Amount

$19,558

Year Awarded

2025-2026

Project Coordinator

Tamara Clark

Grant Type

Team

Local Association

Kern High School Teachers Association

Focus Area

Science Technology Engineering, and Math

About the Project

Many students, often disengaged in abstract mathematics courses, need real-world applications to make learning relevant. This project bridges the gap between the classroom and everyday life by focusing instruction on the four facets of numeracy: context, responses, information/ideas, and representations.
Unlike traditional classes prioritizing content, this project-based approach gives high school students a practical understanding of numeracy that prepares them for success in life-applicable mathematics. The project culminates in a “reality check” capstone event, where students use their skills in real-life simulations, including managing budgets and making decisions about housing, insurance, clothing, and childcare, demonstrating that math is a vital and practical tool for adulthood.

Meet the Project Coordinator

Tamara Clark

Tam Clark is a 21 year veteran high school educator, state council delegate and KHSTA Executive Board member in Bakersfield, CA. She is passionate about numeracy, use oriented Mathematics, and preparing her students to have the tools to implement mathematical knowledge in their impending adulthood. She wrote the “Numeracy is the Nexis” project to empower students to have the space to learn specific aspects of numeracy (the mathematical equivalent to English literacy), and to then have hands on experiences with adulting mathematics that reach to a deeper base understanding than just the scope of consumer/business math. Numeracy building provides a broad foundation for mathematical reasoning, while consumer/business math seeks only to apply those foundational skills. She hopes that her grant project can BEGIN the successful implementation of the groundwork that is required for students to be successful at applying mathematics to their adult lives.

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