STEM coordinator for WCPS to receive state math award

Justin Maffei, STEM coordinator, Warren County Public Schools. Photos by Kim Riley.

Justin Maffei, coordinator of science, technology, engineering and math — the so-called STEM courses — for Warren County Public Schools (WCPS), next month will officially receive the William C. Lowry Mathematics Educator of the Year Award for the Math Specialist Level from the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (VCTM).

Each year, the VCTM recognizes a classroom teacher on the elementary, middle, secondary, university, and math specialist/coach level for his or her outstanding work in the field of mathematics. One teacher selected from each of five categories receives an award that gets announced at the VCTM annual conference. The 2019 conference is slated for March 8 and 9 at Longwood University in Farmville, Va.

“I was thrilled and honored when I received the news,” Maffei, 34, told the Royal Examiner last week. “I work with a number of great math supervisors and math specialists throughout Virginia, so I know that there are a tremendous number of them who would be worthy of this award.”

Nominated for the VCTM award by WCPS Director of Elementary Instruction Lisa Rudacille, and then judged generally based upon the impact he’s had on mathematics education at the division, regional, state, and national levels, Maffei humbly said the award wouldn’t have been possible without the help of his local WCPS colleagues on the Instructional Resource Team.

In addition to Maffei, the team is comprised of Rudacille, who is also the current principal at E. Wilson Morrison Elementary School in Front Royal, Va.; Alan Fox, director of WCPS secondary instruction; Heather Bragg, instructional specialist for language arts, social studies, and foreign languages; Janet Myers, WCPS gifted coordinator; Carla Scott, instructional specialist for special education; Denise Walton, instructional specialist for testing; Donna Boies, the WCPS Title I and Title III coordinator; and Donna Strickler, an administrative assistant for WCPS.

“It is a great team to work with and I would do a disservice if I did not mention how much the team supports one another with providing the students of Warren County with the best education possible,” said Maffei, who resides in Strasburg, Va.

Born in Rural Valley, Pa., a small town outside of Pittsburgh, Maffei said he knew from a very young age that he wanted to become a teacher.

“Sometime in elementary school, I believe it was third grade, we were given an assignment to create a coat of arms which would describe ourselves. It was broken into four sections,” he explained. “In one of the sections, we were to draw a picture which would describe what we wanted to be when we grew up. I drew a chalkboard with ‘Mr. Maffei’ written on it.”

Maffei said he also had excellent teachers throughout his life who inspired him.

“I saw the impact that they had on my life and my friends’ lives. I wanted to be a part of that,” he said.

Eventually, Maffei earned both his bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education from Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University and later an education specialist degree in curriculum and instruction from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

From there, he started teaching high school math — everything from Math 8 through pre-calculus — at Rappahannock County High School in Washington, Va. Maffei taught there for five years before taking the STEM coordinator position with WCPS four years ago.

“I absolutely loved my time in the classroom, having a group of students who became ‘my kids,’ helping them through their difficulties in life and in school,” Maffei said. “It was a difficult decision to move out of the classroom, but I wanted to have a greater impact on education in general.”

As the county’s STEM coordinator for public schools, Maffei added that because he works with teachers and administrators, he’s now able to have an impact on more students than he would have had if he remained a classroom teacher.

Greg Drescher, Superintendent of Warren County Public Schools, said that Maffei came to the county out of the classroom where he was an exceptional teacher.

“He is highly skilled and knowledgeable about what it takes to be an effective teacher with the ability to pass that knowledge on to others,” Drescher recently told the Royal Examiner, explaining that instructional specialists like Maffei hold division-level positions and their primary role is to support K-12 teachers.

“We are in the process changing their titles over to Coordinators since that is a better description of what they do,” said Drescher. “Mr. Maffei is responsible for coordinating the math and science curriculum, as well as helping teachers develop and use best practices in their classrooms.”

The superintendent said that Maffei’s VCTM award signifies that Warren County has many quality educators.

“It is wonderful to have one of our best recognized,” Drescher said.

Maffei continuously works to improve his craft.

He’s currently finishing work at Liberty University on a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction and does consulting with JASON Learning as the math curriculum content and curriculum lead designing a math-centered STEM curriculum.

Maffei also serves as co-leader of the Region IV Math Supervisors’ Consortium, which meets quarterly and holds an end-of-the-year retreat to discuss related regional needs and the best ways to address them.

A group of Region IV Math Supervisors that Maffei also participates in includes education professionals from across the state, including from Frederick County, Clarke County, Prince William County, and Fauquier County. The members offer an annual professional development series called the Partnering with Principals Institute, which is attended by teams of administrators, math coaches and math teachers, said Maffei.

During the Partnering with Principals Institute, he said teams learn the key components of effective mathematics instruction and how to support the development of effective math instruction in their own buildings.

“Lord Fairfax Community College has graciously allowed us to hold this event at their Middletown and Fauquier campuses,” said Maffei, who also serves as the Region IV representative for the Virginia Council of Mathematics Supervision where he and other regional colleagues jointly provide professional development sessions in math instruction for the Lord Fairfax Community College Educational Consortium.

In the next few months, Maffei said he’ll be a keynote speaker at the Battlefields of Northern Virginia Teachers of Mathematics Conference and a presenter at the VCTM Conference, among other conference appearances.

Such involvement is easy when you enjoy what you’re doing.

“I have always loved math, especially using math in real-world situations,” Maffei said about his passion. “The beauty of STEM education is that it provides its own level of intrigue for the students.”

Many times, he said, students lack interest in a subject when they can’t make connections between their classroom work and using their knowledge and skills in “the real world.”

“STEM education provides students with real-world issues that need solving,” Maffei said. “That alone will hold most students’ interest.”

And when students are able to make these connections between skills, they’ll be better prepared for life after school, he added.

Locally, Maffei said WCPS subject specialists are always keeping their “eyes and ears open for opportunities to work together with community businesses and organizations to improve the education of the students in Warren County Public Schools.”