Krista Hines, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics, plays a critical role in the educational journeys of students wishing to become math educators, especially at the elementary and middle school levels. Professor Hines redesigned key parts of UNT’s curriculum that these future educators take (roughly 350 each year). She also has established a partnership with Communities in Schools North Texas. This program provides free tutoring to at-risk students in north Texas, but it also has become an important part of the educational experience of UNT students. It provides them with the opportunity to interact with at-risk students, and provides invaluable experiences that will make them more effective educators after graduation. Professor Hines also requires her students to go out to area schools to assess students. This helps them better understand what to expect in their first teaching jobs. Interwoven in all that she does in preparing tomorrow’s math educators is her strong belief that future teachers must not simply tell students about topics and expect memorization, they should find multiple pathways to help students truly understand mathematics.