Currently, all MIST Academy classes are developed or co-developed by MIST Academy CEO Mathew Crawford. MIST Academy plans to recruit more teachers of the highest caliber. All MIST Academy instructors must exemplify enthusiasm for their field, and discipline in the exploration for knowledge.


Naomi Anderegg

Naomi Anderegg runs one of the Birmingham Introductory A classes beginning in the Winter of 2011. More information soon.

Emily Brasher

Emily Brasher, a National Board Certified Middle Childhood Generalist, is the instructor for Math Explorers (elementary school problem solvers). She has twenty-nine years teaching experience with elementary students. Emily enjoys working with young children and encourages them to be problem-solvers, creative thinkers and risk takers. Emily served as the Gifted Education Specialist for Vestavia Hills Elementary School West for eighteen years. In addition, she taught second grade for two years.

Emily’s motto is: Effort leads to success.

Distinctions

The following is a summary of distinctions throughout Emily Brasher's career:

  • During her tenure as a gifted specialist, she was a presenter at the 2003 & 1998 Alabama Association for Gifted Children Conferences and the 1999 National Association for Gifted Children Conference. 
  • 2002 recipient of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program-Japan
  • 2001 USA Today Third Team Member
  • 1999 Birmingham Post Herald Distinguished Teacher finalist
  • 1999 Vestavia Hills Rotary Club Elementary Teacher of the Year
  • She participated in a two year (1997-1998) Differentiated Instruction Research Project in conjunction with the University of Connecticut
  • Served as the Vestavia West Chess Club coach

Prior to her tenure at Vestavia, Emily worked a total of eleven years for the Chilton County Board of Education as a first grade and second grade teacher, and Title I Reading Coach.

Education

  • 1991-1992 University of Alabama Gifted Education Certification
  • 1969-1974 University of Montevallo M.Ed. – Elementary Education
  • 1966-1971 B.S. University of Montevallo – Elementary Education

Mathew Crawford

Mathew Crawford is the founder and director of MIST Academy and previously the founder of Universal Set Educational Resources, the precursor to much of the work done at Art of Problem Solving. Though there is no such term, he considers himself an Educational Engineer. This self-chosen career title infers a passion for applied logic and mathematics -- particularly within the field of education.


Teaching

Crawford refuses to approach teaching with the idea that students are already as smart as they ever will be. Young thinkers need challenges and inspiration. Achievement comes from effort. Crawford has two goals for every class:

  • To present each student with the right curriculum.
  • Inspire each student to want to work harder to achieve their goals.

Crawford has coached a long list of successful students including numerous medalists at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and several science Olympiads. Many of his students have been winners of the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO), rare perfect scorers on difficult exams such as the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), and winners of top scholarship prizes such as the Siemens-Westinghouse Competition.

The following is a partial list of the venues at which Crawford has taught:

  • Art of Problem Solving -- 2003 (inception) to 2006. Writing and teaching most of the classes for the online school during that time.
  • AwesomeMath Summer Program for top U.S. math students teaching Combinatorics and Number Theory.
  • Avid Academy in Irvine, California -- 2006 to 2007.
  • San Diego Math Circle -- 2003 to 2007. Volunteer math instructor.
  • During the 2008/2009 school year, Crawford taught two math team classes each week at Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama. Crawford also ran MIST Academy classes in Huntsville from the Fall of 2008 throug the Spring of 2010.
  • Past coach for both the San Diego and Missouri American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) teams, and currently for the Alabama ARML team.
  • At many Birmingham area schools as a volunteer math team coach. This includes Vestavia Hills High School, where Crawford graduated in 1995. He has since logged hundreds of hours as a volunteer math team coach at VHHS alone. For his efforts MIST Academy has been recognized by the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce's Partners in Education (PIE) program.
  • Thousands of additional hours tutoring and working with talented math students in various capacities since 1989.

Curriculum Design


The right curriculum for a student means first understanding the needs of the student, then determining what progression of material is appropriate for that student, and finally executing the creation of those materials, using available technology and instructional approaches.
  • Crawford wrote an Introduction to Number Theory, a unique textbook that takes a constructive approach to teaching number theory and problem solving. This book is very popular among mathletes nationwide. Crawford also co-wrote Intermediate Algebra released in April, 2008, laying down the foundation for most of the text. This book is a highly unique approach to algebra, focusing on the arts of substitution and manipulation as opposed to learning disjointed facts about many areas of algebra curriculum. Crawford plans to publish many more texts in the future, helping to build a modern curriculum for students of the age of computers.
  • From 2003 to 2006, Crawford helped build the Art of Problem Solving online school, where he wrote most of the classes during that time. While transcripts of these classes are not available online, transcripts of free "Math Jams" that he wrote and taught are available here. He also wrote some of the now famous How to Write Solutions (proofs) articles as well as an article demystifying different forms of probability for the NASA Educators Workshop.
  • From 2005 to 2007, Crawford helped design and implement the Worldwide Online Olympiad Training (WOOT) program for students aspiring to write the International Mathematical Olympiad, the USA Mathematical Olympiad, and other national olympiads.
  • From 2006 to 2007, Crawford helped build classes and programs at Avid Academy in Orange County, California.
  • Beginning in 2007, Crawford wrote materials for the Alabama ARML team and local MATHCOUNTS programs.

Contest Problem Writing


Crawford's has extensive experience writing problems to challenge the nation's most gifted students. The following is an incomplete list of the contests and organizations for which Crawford has written tests and problems:
  • Head Test Writer for the iTest and iTest Tournament of Champions. The 2007 iTest and 2007 iTest Solutions Guide are freely available online and provide a sample of the resources Crawford plans to use with top high school students in the Birmingham area.
  • Problem writer for the USA Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS). Here and here are samples of two of the problems Crawford wrote for the USAMTS.
  • Test writer for the Mu Alpha Theta national competition.
  • Writer of Alabama ARML Team Selection Tests.
  • Writer of the San Diego Math League and San Diego Mathematical Olympiad.
  • Test writer for the Vestavia Hills High School Math Team Tournament and problem writer for the Grissom High School Math Team Tournament.


Career Past

Crawford believes that having a career past outside of education has prepared him to play a unique role as an educator. Working in research and industry he applied algebra, calculus, game theory, and probability theory to both abstract and real world problems.

Jason Knight

Jason Knight is a Research Engineer for KBM Enterprises, developing software for the Patriot missile defense system.

  • Masters in Mathematics from Tennesse Technological University, and completed some coursework toward a PhD at the University of Alabama, Huntsville.
  • Published Paper: Irreducible and Reducible Representations of the Symmetric Group: Theory and Computations in August 2009.
  • Teaching Assistant at Tennessee Technological University for 2 years (2007 through 2009).
  • Integration Bee Coach at Tennessee Tech.
  • Instructor and tutor at Sylvan Learning Center and Cumberland Early Scholars Academy (2006-2007).
  • Research Assistant (TUNL REU) writing fitting routines for energy density data involved in specific chemical reactions.
  • Numerous top awards as a math student.

Alexander Kunin

Alex Kunin recently graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics from Stony Brook University and currently pursues his M.S. in Computer Science at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, with a focus in Graphics and Computational Geometry.

  • Undergraduate Teaching Assistant in Mathematics and Computer Science classes while at Stony Brook, including work for George Hart, the inspiring professor behind the new Museum of Mathematics in Manhattan.
  • Scoring Director and software designer for the Rocket City Math League.
  • Kumon instructor and grader (Fall 2010 to Spring 2011).
  • Stony Book Presidential Recognition Scholarship.
  • President, Stony Brook University Math Club (2009-2010).
  • President, Stony Brook Chapter of Association for Computing Machinery, (2008-2009).
  • Vice President, Stony Brook Judo Club, (2007-2010).
  • National Merit Scholar.
  • Numerous top awards as a math student, and a member of the Alabama state math team.

Julie Ryle, PhD

Dr. Ryle graduated from the University of Alabama with a PhD in Mathematics in 2009. She joined the MIST Academy staff during the Spring of 2010 and now teaches the Introductory A and B classes.

  • Instructor at University of Alabama and Jefferson State Community College for a total of 4 years.
  • Tutoring math for 12 years.

Sergey Sarkisov

Sergey Sarkisov joined the MIST Academy staff in February, 2010. He considers teaching and mentoring of students one of his primary passions and has tutored students in the Huntsville area for more than a decade. In addition to his many awards competing at local and national math competitions, Sarkisov's accomplishments in mathematics and physics include the following:

  • Undergraduate degrees in mathematics and physics from the University of Alabama, Huntsville (Magna Cum Laude)
  • Named on 6 published research papers and 1 US patent
  • Member of the 2003 U.S. Physics Olympiad team
  • USA Mathematical Olympiad qualifier
  • Co-founder of the Rocket City Math League
  • Winner of the international First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics competition
  • 2006 Rudolf Kingslake Award
  • Authored "How to Win Academic Contests" (published 2007)
  • Co-coach of the Alabama ARML team

Brandon Yates

Brandon Yates serves as MIST Academy's Director of Speech and Debate. His experience in the debate community includes four years of High School debate competition for Vestavia Hills High School and college level competition for the University of Alabama. Although the vast majority of his debating was policy or cross-examination style, Yates also has experience with Lincoln-Douglas, Extemporaneous, and Parliamentary Debate.

As a result of his high school achievements, Yates was offered multiple scholarships and accepted a full scholarship to The University of Alabama, where he debated under the tutelage of Carrie Crenshaw. He won multiple team and individual awards at national tournaments including: Vanderbilt University, The University of South Carolina, Emory University, Southern Illinois, University of Florida, C.E.D.A. Nationals, Moorehead State, U.M.S.L., Georgia State D.S.R. - T.K.A. honor society tournament, M.T.S.U., and Valdosta State. Due to team and personal successes, the University of Alabama's debate team was ranked number one in the nation twice during Yates' tenure. Yates won honors as the first place speaker at the South East/South Central Regional Championships two consecutive years.

Mr. Yates majored in Philosophy and Political Science with a minor in English Literature at the University of Alabama and received honors in English and Political Science.