Dr. Adrian B. Mims, Sr.
Mission Message: 10th anniversary recognition of The Calculus Project
Dr. Adrian B. Mims, Sr., knows first-hand the challenges that high school students face when they lack a firm mathematical foundation. His experience as a college freshman who had not taken calculus eventually inspired him to start The Calculus Project, a nonprofit whose mission is to dramatically increase the representation and success of Black, Hispanic, and low-income students in advanced mathematics, preparing them for successful careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).
Since its founding in 2009 at Brookline High School, The Calculus Project has positively affected more than 10,000 students in more than 100 middle and high schools in Massachusetts and Florida. The program has received numerous awards; in 2019, it was recognized by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a Bright Spot in Middle Years Math, which resulted in a two-year development grant.
Dynamic founder, CEO, innovator, and educator Dr. Mims will open Newton Inspires and help Newton Schools Foundation celebrate its vital ten-year partnership with The Calculus Project. He will talk about his own educational journey, his entrepreneurial path, and his current passion, which is forming alliances with more school districts, institutions of higher education, other nonprofits, and businesses to enable The Calculus Project to change the lives of even more students.
Anike Tourse
Keynote: Using the arts to explore challenging topics
Multimedia maker Anike Tourse tackles the challenging subjects of immigration and deportation in “America’s Family,” a film she wrote, helped produce, directed, and acted in. “America’s Family” won the Grand Jury Award for Features and the Audience Award for Competition Features at the 25th annual Dances with Films festival in Los Angeles in 2022.
Ms. Tourse (NSHS ‘88) began exploring theater at Brown Junior High School and continued at Newton South High School. While working on the joint Newton North-Newton South Shakespeare production, she remembers benefiting from mentoring by Lenox-based Shakespeare & Company. After graduating from Bates College, Ms. Tourse earned her MFA from The Ohio State University. She has written for several television series, wrote the award-winning short film “America; I Too” and the short play “No Milk Today,” and has performed several solo shows across the U.S. She has also performed at the Edinburgh (Scotland) Fringe Festival, the largest international theater festival in the world.
Ms. Tourse will talk about her 23-year effort to bring “America’s Family” to the screen and the ways in which her Newton Public School teachers provided professional-level experiences and inspiration that sparked her career in the arts.
