Dr. Shelly Jones, a mathematics education professor at Central Connecticut State University, has a passion for math and teaching.

“As educators, we want to empower students,” Jones said.

The Bridgeport native began her career in the city teaching middle school students and later held administrative roles. Jones received her doctorate in Mathematics Education from Illinois State University.

“When I went to go get my doctorate, I found out I was in great demand and then I started finding out why I was in great demand because there weren't a lot of Black folks with PHDs in math or math education,” Jones said.

 At the university, Jones formed strong relationships with other Black educators.

“Three of the people I graduated with from Illinois State, we are still working together today, Lou Matthews, Dr. Matthews actually started on this road of culturally relevant math,” Jones said.

Jones went on to co-author "Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks: Fostering Hope." The book focuses on how to make lessons more inclusive and diverse.

“So, if I show a pattern that is similar to something that someone has seen in their home, like an Islamic tessellation pattern, they might not call it an Islamic tessellation pattern, but when they see it’s familiar to them, and sometimes just the familiarity to that pattern might help the students grasp some of the geometry that I might teach,” Jones said.

There are several ways to include cultural ties in teaching, whether that is through patterns or representing different ethnic backgrounds in the storyline of a math problem.

“We call it mirror and window view, a mirror is when they see themselves reflected, which in many textbooks they don’t and a window view is when they are learning about others, which we want them to do,” Jones said.

The long-time educator was also a contributing author for the book "Brilliance of Black Children in Mathematics: Beyond the Numbers and Toward a New Discourse," and is the author of "Women Who Count: Honoring African American Women Mathematicians."

“The first African-American woman to earn a doctorate is Euphemia Lofton Haynes and she earned her doctorate in 1943,” Jones said.

 The book celebrates pioneering women in the field dating back to the 1940s up to present day.

“What I tried to do was include information about the mathematics that the mathematician did in their career and their job, but also about their home life,” Jones said.

For almost two decades, Jones has led classrooms at CCSU. She teaches math education to current and soon-to-be teachers and always encourages educators to empower students through lessons.

“Whatever math you are teaching, what I ask my teachers and pre-service teachers, 'OK you wrote this lesson, how will this lesson empower students?' If you can’t answer that question, then go back,” Jones said.