MathAmigos – Programs for Teachers and Students
MathAmigos is a collaborative working group which focuses on training teachers from five local public elementary schools to “inspire kids to love math” using innovative strategies and techniques.
MathAmigos Teacher Workshops
Since 2017, MathAmigos workshops introduce teachers to exciting new strategies for teaching children struggling with math – through innovative workshops, in-class coaching and co-teaching, community math festivals, and special academies and camps. Our team has introduced pioneering strategies that deepen mathematical thinking, blend math with literacy, and promote creative problem-solving through highly engaging math circles and wrangles. To our knowledge, we are the only non-profit in New Mexico focused solely on teaching K-8 math.
MathAmigos has provided 31 professional development workshops since 2017, reaching over 400 teachers in Northern New Mexico, including rural areas and pueblos, with over 4900 teacher training hours. Teachers tell us that PD is often repetitive, focused on reporting standards, and “one size fits all”. Our workshops feature interactive best practices based on state and national standards that teachers can explore, discuss, then use in their classrooms the next day.
Our workshops meet teachers at their level of need, based on detailed feedback from their workshop evaluations. Workshop sessions are tailored to teachers for K-3, Grades 4-8, and topic requests by teachers. To view our innovative workshop sessions scroll down and click any of the links.
In 2025-2026 we are launching a new direction to further “bring math alive” in the multi-cultural world around us. Our expanded more intensive program increases time time for instructor-teacher interaction and networking, deeper exploration of best practices, and collection of outcome data; it provides sustained teacher contact throughout the school year. Teachers will now participate in: (1) our 4 PD workshops (50 teachers each); (2) follow-up in-class coaching and co-teaching; (3) monthly follow-up meetings on-line; and (4) data collection and analysis of student outcomes to ensure continuous improvement at both the program and classroom level. Initial workshop sessions will be 3 linked mini-courses from 9 am to 12 noon that address critical challenges for teaching math: (1) “Soulmates: Math and Literacy” with math talk, games, story-telling, and creative routines (K-3); (2) “Integrating Mathematical Thinking through Engaging Math Circles and Games” (Grades 4-8); and (3) “Enriching STEM Teaching with Creative Data Science” (Grades 1-8), to help teachers better use student data to improve proficiency. This model builds and sustains capacity for state-of-the-art math practice, boosts teacher morale, promotes innovative strategies that strengthen teacher’ skills and confidence; and helps students “take risks, make mistakes, problem solve, think critically, and …stay curious”.
We have been a formal partner of the Curriculum and Instruction Office of Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS) since 2017. Our team includes the SFPS STEM Coordinator and SAGE Program Specialist, a past education dean at UT El Paso (Team Lead), a retired physician and medical school curriculum dean, two mathematicians, a physicist, Grade 3 and Grade 7 teachers, and two retired teachers (one is a past PED program evaluator). Workshop instructors are team members and expert math educators from state and national organizations who model inquiry-based interactive teaching and creative teaching strategies. Our instructors have included faculty from UNM, Northern New Mexico College (NNMC), New Mexico State, and Santa Fe Community College. Committed to “training the trainers”, we have ~8 teachers who have attended multiple workshops and are now co-instructors.
We are an all-volunteer team and welcome all who would like to join us! The links below show our past workshop schedules, where you can see directly how our workshop sessions meet teacher challenges in the classroom.
MA Teacher Workshop, Santa Fe – Nov 8, 2025
MA Teacher Workshop, Santa Fe – Oct 11, 2025
MA Teacher Workshop, Espanola — March 8, 2025
MA Teacher Workshop, Santa Fe — January 25, 2025
MA Teacher Workshop, Espanola – December 7,2024
MA Teacher Workshop, Santa Fe — November 2, 2024
MA Teacher Workshop, Santa Fe — October 5, 2024
MA Teacher Workshop, Espanola – September 12-13, 2024
MA Teacher Workshop, Espanola – June 24-26, 2024
Math Amigos Past Programs
MathAmigos Provides E-Coaching to Teachers;
Delivers “Grab and Go” Math Kits to Kids
Since September Judy Reinhartz, PhD, has been e-coaching 3rd and 4th grade teachers at Sweeney Elementary to integrate math-themed children’s books and hands-on materials into online instruction. Her Embedding Literacy in Math program uses childrens books to spark students’ interest, expand their math vocabulary, engage in meaningful math conversations, and make sense of the world of numbers in their daily lives. Dr. Reinhartz has distributed 150 “grab and go” math bags to children in this program. Teachers report that students embrace these books with great enthusiasm in part because they show how math fits into everyday life.
“Homework Help U Hotline”: Helping Students Make the Grade
Online learning creates all sorts of barriers to learning. As a result, many students are falling behind or even failing in math. To bridge this
ever-increasing gap, Santa Fe Public Schools has created a Homework Help U Hotline for students and their parents. And MathAmigos
partners have volunteered their time to respond when students or parents call for help with homework.
While the Homework Help U Hotline is in its early stages, more and more calls are coming in. Currently there are about 35 volunteers who have responded to almost 70 calls. If you or someone you know is struggling with math in school, consider referring them to the
Homework Help U Hotline at (505) 467-4663. Phone lines are open Monday through Thursday from 4-6PM and the help is free.
MathAmigos Donates Math Resource Libraries to Targeted Elementary Schools
In response to an increasing need for books and supplies at local public schools, MathAmigos has assembled and donated boxes of math-related resources to five public elementary schools in Santa Fe’s Airport Corridor — Cesar Chavez, El Camino Real, Nina Otero, Ramirez Thomas, and Sweeney. Each school received more than 200 items: math-themed children’s books, booklets containing fun math activities and story problems, innovative Mindset Mathematics handbooks for teachers, and kid-friendly math supplies (like Geoboards, Spinners, Dominos, playing cards, and dice) to keep students engaged during online classes. Teachers from these five schools are encouraged to borrow the math supplies they need for their online classes, then return them for others to check out.
When schools reopen, the MathAmigos Teachers’ Resource Libraries will make it even easier for teachers to expand their options as they inspire kids to love math.
Mathmagical Times! MathAmigos Partners with Santa Fe Public Library to Create “Mathemagical Times”
Over the summer Santa Fe Public Library and MathAmigos offered a unique interactive math and literacy program for 80 children ages 4 through 14. Mathemagical Times utilized an online format where MathAmigos and Library staff hosted twice-weekly sessions for four different age groups — reading math-themed children’s books aloud and leading activities related to those books that brought math to life in unexpected ways. Based on the success of the summer program, the Library and MathAmigos teamed up again this fall to offer a similar online program — Mathemagical Times X 2 — for middle school youth grades 5-9. They utilized literature, art, writing, puzzles, games, and manipulatives such as dominos and Geoboards, to develop the knowledge and skills students need to learn 5th to 8th grade math.
They also introduced 8 and 9 grade students to new symbols and abstractions to help students grasp pre-algebra, algebra, and geometry. The program was designed to show middle school kids what is “under the hood” and fun about math — leading to greater resilience in meeting increasingly difficult mathematical challenges.
Both the summer and fall Mathemagical Times programs relied on books provided by the Library and activity kits provided by MathAmigos, all of which were distributed to participating kids through the Library.
Math Family Nights
MathAmigos works with principals and teachers to hold Math Family Nights at schools. We have about 25 games and activities involving math and teachers will work with kids and parents at each table. In the past, about 250 people attended our Math Family Night, spent a few hours with us, played math games/activities, and enjoyed the food and beverages provided.
The night was about parents and kids having fun while doing something with math. There were puzzles, things kids could put their hands on, wonderful discussions, thoughtful faces, and big smiles throughout the evening. Some were shy at first, but there was no pressure and kids and parents quickly joined in the activities. Here are some of the activities used in Family Nights.
