The author was asked to develop a list of actions that teachers could take to build students' mathematics abilities. Too many students fail to graduate and fail to pass state assessments as a result of weak mathematics skills. Even many students who do graduate leave high school lacking sufficient understanding of mathematics to pass college entrance exams or to succeed in the 21st-century workplace. In response to this request, the author has developed nine actions that can be taken not only by mathematics teachers, but by all teachers--including career/technical teachers--to build students' mathematics abilities. These strategies work with a full range of high school students. The actions will inspire students' confidence in their ability to learn mathematics, will improve students' enjoyment of and achievement in mathematics, and will help more students find the connection between what they are asked to learn in math class and what they hope to do in the real world. (Contains 2 footnotes.)