YEADON, PA—In the beginning of the of 2008/2009 school year, fifth-grade teacher Andrew Miller and math coach Marie Thompson issued a challenge to the students of Evans Computer Magnet School: solve ONE MILLION math problems. As of mid-January, 2009, they have met that challenge, solving more than 1,154,000 problems in the First In Math® Online Program!
Miller and Thompson motivated students with the promise of a celebratory "Olympic Math Day" to be held in February. As a result of their efforts, the school is ranked #7 in Pennsylvania, and #13 in the nation in the prestigious First In Math "Top Schools" category.
LEFT PHOTO, l to r: Math Coach Marie Thompson; William Penn School District Superintendent Joseph Bruni; Principal Angela Ladson; FIM Ambassador Cred Dobson and Robert Sun pose with Adama Mariko, Monique Bediako and Jalisa Walters. RIGHT PHOTO: Andrew Miller looks on proudly as Tahirah Overton chats with inventor Robert Sun.
On January 21, winners of the school's First In Math "Free Lunch" Contest were invited to a special luncheon in the library. They were joined by FIM creator Robert Sun, who presented pins to the contest winners and medals to the top five FIM players. Principal Angela Ladson and William Penn School District Superintendent Joseph Bruni helped pass out awards. The idea of a Free Lunch competition—counting stickers earned from Thanksgiving until the end of winter break—began four years ago, according to Thompson. "We wanted to motivate ALL students by giving them the same chance to win as those who already had high sticker counts." It worked, as many of the finalists are students who started out at a slower pace, but quickly made up for lost time.
"These students began to realize that they could be successful with this program if they just gave themselves the chance," explains Miller. "One young lady who had less than 600 stickers at the beginning of the contest earned more than 1,500 stickers the first week of the contest."
"The First In Math program offers something for all of our students, from fragile learners to gifted learners," says Principal Ladson. "FIM allows every child to find success in math." Thompson agrees. "Students realize if they can solve the problems on the First In Math site, they can also do them in math class. We're even finding a carry-over to other subjects, based on the success students are finding with First In Math."
In addition to the luncheon, Sun visited several classrooms, and fielded many questions from students, such as ‘why did you invent the 24® game?' (To help students succeed in math) and ‘who picks the music for the games?' (Sun picks, mixes and edits the music himself).