Math is For You
Before the glitz and glamor comes hard work. Dr. Valerie Camille Jones Ford’s career-long journey in mathematics began in her 9th grade year. She felt behind in math due to her struggles with mixing up numbers. It was because of her teacher that she eventually realized she had dyscalculia, a learning disorder that affects a person’s ability to understand number-based information and math.
Dr. Jones Ford’s teacher empowered her to believe and know that math was for her. Since then, Dr. Jones Ford has spent over 25 years as an educator with a mission to instill that same confidence in students, specifically in mathematics. She wanted to help students avoid how she felt.
“I kind of always felt like I was behind,” said Dr. Jones Ford. “…these struggles gave me empathy for my students.”
She teaches students that math isn’t about winning a race, instead, it’s about patterns, problem solving, and thinking.
“The way we think about math in general has to change,” she said.
On her journey to uplift students in math, Dr. Jones Ford has accumulated many honors, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, recognition in the U.S. Congressional Record by the late Congressman John Lewis, along with receiving celebrations from former President Barack Obama.
On June 20, 2025, Dr. Jones Ford became the second educator from Atlanta and the fourth from Georgia to be inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was created in 1989 to honor career teachers from public, private, and parochial schools across the country who have at least 20 years of full-time classroom teaching experience.
Dr. Jones Ford said she is still at a loss for words but hopes that more Black, Brown, and teachers of color are recognized and honored. Dr. Jones Ford is the sixth Black educator out of 165 Hall of Famers.
“There are so many amazing teachers of color that I met that should be there,” said Dr. Jones Ford.
The National Teachers Hall of Fame Class of 2025
- Dr. Valerie Camille Jones Ford
- Michael Dunlea III
- Tom Jenkins
- Michelle Pearson
- Dr. Pascale Creek Pinner
Adding Joy to Education
As the world continues to move forward, some teachers are fighting to make sure the education system is moving forward too. As the Head of the Mathematics Department at Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy, Dr. Jones Ford has found that introducing pop culture into the curriculum has brought great results.
Ron Clark Academy has gone viral many times for the creative ways it engages with its students. Yes, the students are having fun through music, dance, and art, but that’s just a vessel to educate the students.
Dr. Jones Ford wants to see training incorporated to help teachers bring joy into their curriculum, along with more autonomy and trust to run their classrooms as they see fit. She added that she’s lucky to have that freedom in her current position.
She said it’s about “how can we bring joy into the educational space where kids are running to school.”
Sometimes people see the viral content and believe Ron Clark Academy students aren’t learning, but Dr. Jones Ford said it’s the complete opposite. Because her students are so advanced, she is teaching three high school-level math classes to middle schoolers.
Ron Clark Academy has won the National MATHCOUNTS seven times. Dr. Jones Ford said the math team is popular and that kids are excited to show off their intelligence.
“Our kids grind,” said. Dr. Jones Ford.
No matter how many awards she wins or how many videos go viral, it’s always students first for Dr. Jones Ford.
“[Students] already have what it takes…that strength is already in them,” she said.
