My best (and favorite) math teacher was my 8th grade math teacher, who was an African American woman. Our class was a mix of black & white students, and she taught us how to do math … but while we worked, she taught us about many other things. It was in her class that I first heard the music of Porgy & Bess. I appreciated being challenged to learn (she had high expectations), and I appreciated being exposed to cultural things that I would probably not otherwise have learned about … one thing was not taught at the expense of the other … she found a way to help us learn more than just math, and she did it in an uplifting way. Most of all, I am glad she taught me to love math as much as she did. I honestly believe too many people “hate” math & just want the rest of us to commiserate with them. When I see people wanting to polarize with math, I figure they are folks who don’t particularly like math.