Carly Ziniuk

Carly started in the Math Department at BSS in 1999. From the beginning, she approached teaching in her own way. Not satisfied with the standard textbook, she was given permission by the school to write her own and has done so every year since. “I’m very much a revolution from within kind of person,” says Carly. “So, I was like, ‘I can do better than this.’” 

Her textbook is constantly adapted using new data and at the end of each year, she asks her students what parts to keep and what parts need to go. “It’s given me a lot more understanding of what our students actually want,” Carly believes. “The students give me really honest feedback and that has helped me to be better.” Carly’s textbook is so beloved, BSS grads even take it with them to university. 

BSS has always supported Carly’s professional development. Early in her career here, she received an offer to speak at the EARCOS Teachers’ Conference in Bangkok, Thailand about mathematics and her work at the school. BSS encouraged Carly to go because the experience would be good for her, and ultimately, good for her students. As Carly states, “I grow a lot in my learning, then I come back and I teach what I’ve learned to my students.” 

A natural problem solver, Carly was thrilled to be recently chosen as part of the NASA Space Apps Collective. Selected as one of thirty people worldwide based on her proven leadership in the areas of inclusivity and data communication, she is also one of only three teachers chosen and the only Canadian. Using NASA’s free and open data to spark innovations and knowledge sharing to help solve world problems, Carly spent her entire Thanksgiving weekend taking part in a global hackathon. Participants chose from 22 challenges, then worked tirelessly in teams to come up with and then present their solutions. 

Why does Carly push herself so hard? “I like being unsettled,” she replies. A weight lifter in her spare time who can deadlift 200 pounds, Carly believes this challenging activity is a metaphor for life. “You have to pick up heavy things sometimes. And then you get to put them down,” she explains. “It might be painful when you’re doing it, but it makes you stronger and you can do better things when you’re stronger. For me, that’s really a lot of what I have been able to do personally and professionally in mathematics education.” 

Another growth opportunity for Carly is sharing her research and learning with the education community at large. She regularly writes her own column about middle school mathematics called In the Middle, which appears in the Ontario Association of Mathematics Education Gazette. She’s also contributed material to the TV Ontario Independent Learning Centre and to the Museum of Mathematics Opening in New York City. 

If that wasn’t enough, Carly regularly speaks at mathematics conferences and is currently on the advisory board for the Canadian Mathematical Society’s Crux Mathematicorum. The support and encouragement BSS gives Carly means she’s able to explore her many interests in mathematics. These experiences have in turn emboldened her in the classroom and among colleagues. “It has worked on building my confidence,” asserts Carly. 

When she’s not attending math conferences and pursuing her academic interests, you’ll find Carly in her classroom doing what her students think she does best: teaching. In Carly’s classroom, students are encouraged to collaborate at the blackboard and freely discuss what they’re learning because that’s actually how mathematics is done at the highest levels. “Women naturally collaborate and collect information from the outside world,” Carly explains. “Those are things that are classically female, but for some reason, math is being done individually in most schools.” 

Clearly, Carly’s teaching style is working because in 2016, she was recognized as a leader in mathematics by becoming a University of Waterloo Descartes Medallist. Although it’s a career highlight, attaining the medal didn’t slow down Carly’s drive to effectively educate girls in STEM. She’s hardly one to rest on her laurels. As she states, “STEM skills help us solve problems in the world and the world has lots of problems right now.” All the more reason for Carly to continue to teach her students to be fearless leaders and to take risks. 

What about that sense of belonging that Carly wishes she had at school growing up? She has it in spades at BSS. Speaking about her close-knit Math Department that has been together for years, Carly says, “I feel supported when I’ve needed support.” 

She also loves her involvement in House activities and relishes spirit events. “I think this idea that you have kids from four years to 18 years grouped together to do nothing other than be silly, to do nonsense, to have fun, is brilliant,” she says, her face lighting up. “House is a place where you can be silly and fun and joyful at school. I was waiting for that place.” 

A popular teacher who has an uncanny ability to make students who don’t like math actually like it, Carly feels she’s an integral part of the BSS community. When her inclusion in the NASA Space Apps Collective was announced on social media, she was genuinely surprised and touched by all of the kind words of congratulations from students and parents, past and present. 

When asked if she would ever like to teach at the university level, Carly smiles but shakes her head. “I like young people. They fill me with inspiration,” she states without hesitation. “You can see they’re so full of potential. You really have an opportunity to make change. I really feel like every day, I can make change.”