Traci Sikkink has combined her love of teaching and her love of the arts to build a successful career teaching mathematics by integrating arts and crafts into the curriculum. Her educational projects have appeared in over 20 national publications such as Highlights for Children, Clubhouse, Pac-O-Fun, and Woman’s Day. Some of the published projects by Traci Sikkink include origami crafts, which allow teachers to introduce a high degree of mathematics in the lesson.

In 1997, Traci Sikkink received her first teaching appointment at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. As an English-speaking teacher in a classroom of mainly Spanish-speaking elementary school children, Ms. Sikkink discovered that visual aids and hand signals could overcome language barriers. Within weeks, the students’ English communication skills had increased dramatically, resulting in high test scores for the class and recognition for Ms. Sikkink.

Ms. Sikkink won an Excellence in Art Instruction award from the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water and an Excellence in Art Fair Coordination award from Miramonte Elementary. Traci Sikkink also served on the school?s reading committee and as a peer coach for other teachers. For improving the school’s beauty through the arts, she earned the school’s scholarship fund.

Traci Sikkink then took her talents to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and its Mathematics Project for Emerging Teacher Leaders. Soon after, she began working toward a Master of Education: Curriculum and Instruction. While at UCLA, Ms. Sikkink led professional development projects for Los Angeles elementary school teachers, ensuring that facilitators used key mathematical concepts in their work and that projects met the educational standards for the State of California.

Her post-secondary education began at the University of Memphis, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in Broadcast Journalism. While studying for her undergraduate degree, Ms. Sikkink served as an intern for Tennessee State Senator Steve Cohen, who is now a United States Congressman. Ms. Sikkink has many other accomplishments, including the creation of a CD entitled Dog Gone Classical Music. The recording mixes musical selections from Mozart with sounds of the outdoors to relax anxious dogs while their owners are away.