When Barbara SHYKOFF’74 attended Branksome, math anxiety was rife among students. A seminal 1970s book, Overcoming Math Anxiety, painted a rather sexist picture of a typical mother passing fear of math on to her daughter, with dad joking how mom never could balance a chequebook.
But Barbara and her classmates had the advantage over math anxiety. They had Edwina Baker.
From 1957 to 1988, Edwina taught math at Branksome, later becoming Math Department Head and Vice-Principal. Edwina, who died in 2021 at age 95, inspired Barbara not only to—gasp!—enjoy math, but to continue with it throughout university and her career. Now a senior research scientist at the Naval Aerospace Medical Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, Barbara recalls: “Edwina was possibly my all-time favourite teacher. She managed to be soft-spoken, gentle and in control.”
Thanks to two bequests from her estate, Edwina continues to inspire both Branksome students and staff. The Edwina J. Baker Prize for Mathematics Analysis and Approaches is a subject prize given at graduation. The award winners for 2023 are Cindy HAN’23, Katharine O’FLAHERTY’23 and Fiona BIAN’23.
The Edwina Baker Fund for Faculty Development supports professional development opportunities. Decisions on allocation are made by the Head, Academics and Professional Learning (or designate). Priority is given to learning opportunities in the area of science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM).
It was Edwina’s nephews who, on inheriting her estate after her death, honoured her intention to give Branksome $25,000, enabling the school to establish the two awards. Born in the London, U.K., suburb of Croydon, Edwina knew first-hand the motivational benefits of having excellence recognized. At Oxford, she won the Pure and Applied Mathematics Award. Graduating in 1945, she worked as a research statistician—and was honoured by being named a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.
Further distinction awaited when Edwina, with a teaching degree from the University of London, emigrated to Canada in 1955. She became North Toronto Collegiate’s first female math teacher.
Edwina stayed constant in her approach of making math nurturing as opposed to nerve-wracking. Jennifer FITZGERALD Hansen’84 recalls that when Edwina “spoke of beginning to teach us something new, she referred to it as ‘germinating a seed.’”
As Barbara relates, “In class, Edwina’s encouragement of quiet collaboration during seat work was as friendly as it was efficient. She would run her ‘pass the chalk’ practice problems, where she could see who might have difficulty and where—but without embarrassment for those students, since the rest of the class was solving problems.”
For Jacqueline Shaver, who taught math at Branksome from 1977 to 2001, Edwina was a mentor. “She wanted students to be both comfortable and successful. Every test and exam would start with an easy question and then one that was a little harder, building to the tougher questions.”
A key part of Edwina’s encouragement, Jacqueline says, was meeting with students. “We were always meeting with them, before and after school and in our spares. This stuck with me for my entire 32 years of teaching: that extra help is important and, for some girls, makes the difference between success and failure.”
Bay RYLEY’89 recalls former Branksome Principal, now Alumnae Association Honorary President, Allison ROACH’51, telling her that “an Ontario schools inspector thought Branksome had one of the best math departments in Ontario. Miss Roach told me it was because of Miss Baker.”
Nothing fazed unflappable Miss Baker. Carolyn DENNIS’89 remembers: “On hot days, she would keep the door and windows open. When there was a breeze, the door would slam shut. In the middle of explaining an equation Miss Baker would say, ‘Door’s about to slam, door’s about to slam,’ so we wouldn’t be startled by it. Then she would just go on teaching.”
And now, through the two awards in Edwina’s name, students and staff continue to appreciate her positive approach to learning math—to, as she did, keep calm and carry on.
