The first full week of May is designated as Licensed Employee Appreciation Week. At Clackamas ESD alone, we have at least 20 types of licensed jobs, with many variations in those positions. These are people who have completed higher education and earned licenses to be certified to teach students, lead continuing education training for staff, serve as social skills specialists, and provide speech, physical and occupational therapy within Clackamas ESD programs and the school districts we serve.
This Licensed Employee Appreciation Week, we’re highlighting a few of our approximately 180 licensed staff members to provide a peek into the diverse ways this large group of employees lives our mission of service. We appreciate our entire licensed team and the meaningful work they do.
Lori MacKenzie is the math specialist on Clackamas Education Service District’s teaching and learning team of curriculum specialists. Lori supports teachers, math leaders and administrators in Clackamas County in implementing a new method of teaching math that’s improving student outcomes — and making math fun.
Lori’s journey as an instructional coach began to take shape after the COVID-19 shutdowns, while she was teaching middle school math. In the wake of the disruption, students’ math skills had plummeted to record lows. Seeking a new approach, Lori turned to Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl, a framework that encourages shifting from a traditional, lecture-based approach centered around worksheets, tests and homework to an active, collaborative problem-solving style emphasizing peer-to-peer coaching and physical movement.
Following the new method, Lori had her students work in randomly selected groups of three at vertical whiteboards, tackling math problems together. The atmosphere in her classroom became energetic, with students engaging in peer-to-peer coaching and presenting their solutions to the class, leading to Lori’s students achieving the highest math scores in the school that year.
“All of these little changes add up to a big impact on how kids approach math. They’re not scared of it anymore; they’re excited. I hear from parents all the time, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing in there, but my kids used to hate math — and now they love it!’” Lori says with a smile.
The benefits of this collaborative method extend beyond academics. Teachers have noted significant improvements in students’ social-emotional skills, reporting that their students exhibit more empathy and build relationships with students they normally would not connect with otherwise.
“There’s something powerful about working in a group,” Lori explains. “When a team solves a problem they’ve been struggling with, there’s a rush of excitement and high-fives all around. I never got that kind of energy from a worksheet!”
Lori was so moved by this new way of teaching math that she felt a calling to help other teachers adopt it. She first spread the word as a teacher on special assignment in the Oregon City School District before embracing the opportunity to bring her work region-wide at Clackamas ESD in July 2024.
“What I was seeing felt truly magical, and I knew it had to go beyond just my classroom,” Lori says. “This method brought back the joy of teaching for me again.”
In addition to her work helping teachers and schools adopt a new approach to teaching math, Lori helps schools deepen parent engagement in their children’s education with Family Math Nights. She developed a Family Math Night kit, complete with all the materials and planning guides schools need to host the event. Schools can invite Lori to help lead the event or use the kit to run it on their own. So far, the magic of her Family Math Nights has touched over 1,800 students in the 2024-25 school year.
Inspired by her own struggles in school, including being held back in fourth grade, Lori is driven to offer a teaching method that builds students’ problem-solving skills, teamwork and self-confidence.
“I’m thankful for the struggles I faced because they gave me a different perspective than people who made it through the whole system unscathed. People who struggled like me see things differently,” Lori reflects.
“We need to change the way we teach math. We can’t keep doing things the same way we’ve been for the last 100 years.”
For Lori, the best part about working at Clackamas ESD is being surrounded by people who aren’t afraid to try something new — it’s an environment where innovation thrives and great ideas turn into real change.
“The support here has been incredible,” she says. “Everyone is eager to say, ‘Wow, that sounds like a great idea! What else do you need to make it happen? How can we help bring this to life?’ It’s such a positive environment, and it truly is a joy to come to work every day.”
