This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
*Dr. Valerie Camille Jones Ford, Head of the Mathematics Department at Atlanta’s renowned Ron Clark Academy (RCA), was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF) this month, in Emporia, Kansas, as part of the 2025 class. With over 25 years of experience, Dr. Jones Ford is celebrated for her groundbreaking contributions to mathematics education, becoming the second Atlanta educator and the eighth Black woman to receive this prestigious honor.
“It’s just beginning to sink in after everything is over, because it’s just, it’s so amazing. I am so grateful. I am so honored,” Dr. Jones Ford said. “Being inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame has been surreal. It’s an honor that validates not just my journey, but every student, colleague, mentor who shaped me along the way. I’m just so proud to represent, you know, not just these educators, but also educators of color.”
A Spelman College alumna with advanced degrees in Mathematics Education from Georgia State University and Columbia University, Dr. Jones Ford has dedicated her career to making math accessible and joyful. Her approach stems from personal experience: “I didn’t always love math. I might’ve had undiagnosed dyscalculia growing up. Numbers didn’t come easily for me all the time. I often felt anxious and defeated, but that struggle gave me the kind of empathy that let me know if I could learn to love math, I could help others learn to love it as well.”
At RCA, where over 100,000 educators worldwide visit annually to observe innovative teaching, Dr. Jones Ford transforms math instruction by making it interdisciplinary and engaging.
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“I use whatever it takes to help people connect with math. I use music, art, technology, whatever it takes to reduce that intimidation factor,” she said. “I work to build math esteem to showing students and adults that they are critical thinkers and problem solvers.” Her methods, which include dressing as a Marvel character or using virtual reality to teach standards-based concepts, aim to replace math anxiety with confidence.
Dr. Jones Ford’s impact extends beyond the classroom. Recognized by the late Congressman John Lewis in the U.S. Congressional Record and celebrated multiple times by former President Barack Obama, she draws inspiration from these honors to advocate for representation.
“Meeting John Lewis and being recognized by him… it, for me, encourages me to try to inspire students that look like me to pursue whatever they wanna pursue, whether it’s careers in education or just careers in general,” she said. “When students of color see someone that looks like them being honored at that level, it kind of affirms the excellence and innovation that can be possible.”
Her induction into the NTHF, established in 1989 to honor career teachers with at least 20 years of classroom experience, places her among 165 educators recognized since 1992. She joins fellow Georgia inductees Sheryl Abshire (Augusta, 1992), Sandra Worsham (Milledgeville, 2000), and RCA co-founder Kimberly Stewart Bearden (Atlanta, 2016). Dr. Jones Ford is one of five 2025 inductees, alongside Michael Dunlea III (New Jersey), Tom Jenkins (Ohio), Michelle Pearson (Colorado), and Dr. Pascale Creek Pinner (Hawaii).
Reflecting on her journey, Dr. Jones Ford credits quiet moments of student transformation as pivotal: “Helping a student who has math anxiety realize that they can be a mathematician, or hearing a parent say, you know, my child now believes they’re good at math. You know, that kind of stuff is always big in my mind, a special moment.”
These milestones, alongside her Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, underscore her commitment to equity and excellence. Looking ahead, Dr. Jones Ford envisions a legacy of amplifying underrepresented voices in education.
“I really wanna try and find ways to highlight more, I guess, things that teachers of color are doing and bringing to the educational field,” she said. “I’m so happy and so appreciative to be inducted into the Teacher Hall of Fame, but out of 165 inductees, 13 are Black. And I would love to help increase those numbers because I know there’s some amazing educators out there who have been teaching for 20 plus years.”
Her advice to young educators emphasizes student-centered teaching: “Get to know your students, find out what connects with them, and then design your lessons to fit that student body. I do it every year. The way that I taught the class of 2023 is not the way I taught the class of 2018.”
She also advocates for humanizing education, noting, “The lessons and what you’re teaching and what you’re learning, it has to be humanized. It has to be something that is based on relationships and connection.”
Dr. Jones Ford’s induction ceremony, part of NTHF Inductee Week from June 16-20, 2025, celebrates her transformative work. Her philosophy, “math belongs to all of us,” continues to inspire educators and students globally, reimagining math education as a joyful, inclusive pursuit.
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