My name is Tara (pronounced TAHR’-ruh) Foster and I am excited to begin serving you as Regional Director! Prior to this position, I served in many roles in education, most recently as an elementary school principal. While I currently serve as a Regional Coordinator for the Office of Mathematics Improvement within the Alabama Department of Education, math was not a favorite subject of mine. To be completely honest, I hated it because I never understood it. “Little Tara” spent hours at the kitchen table with mama and daddy with them trying to explain things to me.
It wasn’t until years later when I was a classroom teacher and exposed to conceptual learning through training with AMSTI (the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative) along with the Greater Birmingham Math Partnership and OGAP that truly gave me the understanding and help me heal from the past and use my personal struggles to enhance mathematics for my former students and now, for the principals and district leaders I support.
Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me to serve in this role! My goal is to build on the connections started by Michael, provide you with clear and consistent communication as well as collaborate with the Regional Team Leads for each state. I plan to create opportunities over the next three years to ensure your voice is heard, you are able to connect with others in your states as well as in our region, and you have a chance to participate in our organization.
On behalf of “Little Tara” and those students who struggle to understand and think mathematically, thank you for being or creating that “safe space” for them. No matter what role you currently have, please “do not be weary in well doing.” Stay encouraged and keep persevering: You could be teaching a future teacher, school administrator, district or state leader, or even a Regional Director for a national organization.
