James Madison University has rolled out the red carpet to welcome the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics on March 9 and 10. The 24th Annual Conference will be held at the Health and Human Services Building of the College of Integrated Science and Technology at JMU. This year's conference has many new features including an expanded schedule on Friday. Workshops, three hours in length, begin at 9:00 am and Extended Sessions, 90 minutes in length, begin at 10:15 am. Both require tickets for admission which are free and can be requested during the on-line registration process available at this website (www.rockingham.k12.va.us/vctm). There are also many one hour sessions which do not require advance registration nor tickets. The complete schedule is available at the website.

The Health and Human Services Building is the newest academic building on the JMU campus. It contains 187,000 square feet of classroom and office space and is adjoined to the ISAT/CS building. The technology infrastructure and A/V systems in the building provide state-of-the-art support in classroom and laboratory instructional technologies. All classrooms and auditoriums are equipped with built-in, computer-mediated, full-scope audiovisual systems. It features fiber optic to the desktop. For its sessions and workshops, VCTM will be using 20 classrooms, three auditoriums, one computer lab, and four seminar rooms in the Health and Human Services Building plus four additional computer labs in the ISAT/CS building.

Spacious parking is available next to the Health and Human Services Building. The conference is being held during JMU's spring break.

All conference activities will take place at JMU. A list of the plentiful hotel accommodations in the Harrisonburg area is available at the website.

REGISTRATION
The on-line registration at this website is the only way you can pre-register for this conference. There will be no paper pre-registrations. Those who pre register can pick up their packets at the registration area in the basement of the Health and Human Services Building. The packets will contain all tickets, name tags, receipts, maps, etc. plus a printed program. On-site registration will take place in the same area.

NEED HELP AT THE CONFERENCE?
Just ask any of the Harrisonburg High School student volunteers. Each student will be wearing a blue NCTM "DO MATH" t-shirt. Students can be found near the main entrance, at the registration area, and in all computer labs.

FRIDAY BOXED LUNCH
Boxed lunch on Friday, a new feature of the conference, will be available at no cost to participants, thanks to a generous sponsorship by Casio. Many thanks to Sarah Forst and Dr. Susan Lauer from Casio.

GENERAL SESSION
Dr. John Van de Walle is the keynote speaker at the Friday afternoon (4:30 pm) general session. His talk is entitled "NCTM's Principles and Standards Meet the Virginia Standards of Learning: Let's make it a Partnership, not a Confrontation." John is a well known author of the 1998 Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Math K-5 Elementary textbook series and a professor of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also is an author of "Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally" (1998) by Longman Publishing Co. John is a member of the Board of Directors of NCTM and a long-time VCTM member and contributor.
The General Session will also feature a welcome from Dr. A. Jerry Benson, Interim Dean, College of Integrated Science and Technology and from VCTM President Debbie Haver.

RECEPTION
Texas Instruments is sponsoring our annual reception which will take place Friday afternoon immediately after the keynote session. Many thanks to Catherine Bell Jackson and Carolyn Hearns from Texas Instruments.

SATURDAY LUNCHEON
Saturday's luncheon will feature Dr. Randy Charles, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at San José State University as our speaker. Randy's talk is entitled "Abbot & Costello and Making Sense of Mathematics." Luncheon tickets are $20 and should be purchased as part of the on-line registration process. A limited number of luncheon tickets may be purchased at the registration desk if they are available. The luncheon will be held in the Phillips Center Ballroom which is located in the Phillips building on the JMU main campus. Parking will be at Godwin Hall and two other nearby lots. A map will be provided in the registration packet. Directions and map are also available on-line if you click here.
Debbie Haver, VCTM President from Chesapeake City Public Schools, will be the toastmaster for the luncheon. Three presentations will be made:

VCTM SCHOLARSHIP
The annual $1000 VCTM Scholarship is awarded to a full-time student with a major in mathematics and planning to teach in a Virginia school. This year's recipient will be honored at the luncheon on Saturday.

WILLIAM C. LOWERY OUTSTANDING MATHEMATICS TEACHER AWARDS
The annual William C. Lowery Outstanding Mathematics Teacher Award recipients will be honored at the luncheon on Saturday. The awards are presented annually to mathematics educators at the elementary school to the university level who have demonstrated outstanding performance and achievement in teaching mathematics. VCTM is proud to announce that this year's winners are:

PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN MATHEMATICS TEACHING
The 2001 Virginia Mathematics Finalists for the PAESMT awards are:

These awards will be presented at the luncheon on Saturday.

HOSPITALITY ROOM
The Valley of Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the local VCTM affiliate, will sponsor a continuous Hospitality Room in Room 0014 in the basement of the Health and Human Services Room, near the registration tables. Stop by for friendly conversation and free refreshments.

EXHIBITS
Exhibits will be located in the spacious corridors of the basement, first, and second floors of the Health and Human Services Building. Vendors will be able to exhibit from 9:00 until 6:00 pm on Friday and from 8:30 to 12:00 pm on Saturday. Click here to see the list of vendors who are exhibiting.