Dr. April Strom (she/her) is a mathematics professor at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Arizona, where she has taught for over 25 years. April’s passion for engaging students in active learning in mathematics, developing their conceptual understanding and sense-making abilities, and elevating the joy of learning mathematics shines through in all her work. Since 2018, April not only infuses Building Thinking Classroom practices into her own teaching, she also actively facilitates professional development in K-14 focused on BTC instructional practices. As an official member of the BTC professional development team, April works with educators to experience BTC practices from a student’s perspective and then cultivates experiences for them to reflect on their experience from an educator’s perspective.

April’s passion for teaching and love of mathematics is a perfect combination when working closely with mathematics teachers, leaders, and administrators at all levels. She is a 2023-24 recipient of The League for Innovation in the Community College League Excellence Award for her leadership and instruction in mathematics education. April strongly believes that every student can learn mathematics and that they deserve to have meaningful opportunities to think, reason, and problem solve throughout their mathematics journey which is exactly the experience that building thinking classrooms provides students (and teachers!).

April’s research background in mathematics education, coupled with her passion for teaching and learning, has prompted her to engage in various leadership roles in national organizations, such as the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC). April currently serves as the Principal Investigator for the NSF-funded Teaching for Prowess project, which is focused on Building Thinking Classrooms and active learning in the first two years of college mathematics. April also co-led the writing of the Classroom Practices chapter of the 2017 MAA Instructional Practices Guide and served on the steering committee for the 2018 AMATYC IMPACT guide, both of which aimed to elevate active learning in mathematics in higher education.