Bayside Math Teacher Awarded $20,000 For Exceptional Education Methods

BAYSIDE, QUEENS – A Bayside High School math teacher was awarded a prestigious award for his innovative teaching methods, which have influenced current and future teachers.

Bobson Wong was awarded the Math for America Muller Award for Professional Influence in Education, which offers $20,000 for two exceptional public-school teachers in the city. Wong received the award on Tuesday at a reception at the Flatiron District, along with Sarah Slack, a teacher at I.S. 223 Montauk in Brooklyn.

“The students have been influential in my teaching because we have a really diverse student body,” Wong told Patch referring to the students at Bayside High School. “The techniques and strategies I’ve worked on over the years can be applied to everyone, not just a particular group.”

In addition to the individual awards, $5,000 were also granted to each of the teachers’ schools.

What’s Wong going to spend the $20,000? He’s still not sure. “My colleagues keep joking I should take my family on vacation,” he said.

Wong, a member of the organization Math for America, has taught math at Bayside High School for 17 years. He is the co-author of two books focused on mathematics teaching for others: “The Math Teacher’s Toolbox” and “Practical Algebra: A Self-Teaching Guide.”

Wong has also helped review the Common Core Mathematics Standards and graduation requirements in New York, as well as designed curricula and assessments that are widely used in the city.