Mrs. Arleen Brown, pictured here with Hemlock School Principal Audrey Bellovin (left) and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen (right), was recently selected as the 2009 Nassau County Mathematics Teachers Association Elementary Mathematics Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Brown, who began her career in Garden City Schools in 1986, will be honored at the NCMTA Spring Dinner on May 14, 2009.

Chairperson of the Teacher of the Year Selection Committee, Ms. Mary Ann Mansfield, stated that Mrs. Brown's "contributions to our profession are truly impressive and worthy of recognition."

In her letter of nomination for Mrs. Brown, Hemlock Principal Audrey Bellovin commented, "Arleen Brown is an outstanding educator in all curricula areas. Her forte is her ability to successfully teach mathematics to her students. During classroom discussions, higher level thinking is encouraged through the use of questions. The class regularly looks at child-created data in many different ways. In her kindergarten classroom, children talk about equivalent sets and the null set. They make bar graphs. She has made these difficult concepts accessible to five and six year olds. Children in Mrs. Brown's class are also comfortable with integrated lessons - incorporating math and literature. Concrete materials are used to help make these concepts real to the children. As I sit in her classroom, I know I am seeing a master teacher at work."

Congratulations on being selected as the 2009 Nassau County Elementary Mathematics Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Brown!