Summer’s almost here – and our Summer Math Camps are back and better then ever before with locations in Seattle and on the Eastside!  Some kids love math, but some aren’t so excited at the prospect of it being a summer activity. So how do you get a child that is less than enthusiastic about math to show up without resorting to bribery?  That’s what drove the staff at Explorations in Math when putting together our camp curriculum.  The one word answer is G-A-M-E-S.

Hear from our Mathematicians in Residence on how we built the camps

and then hit up our Registration Page to secure your spot before they are gone!

And to get a sneak peek of the excitement, take a look at scenes from last year’s camps!

   

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! And here at Explorations in Math, we are grateful for all the teachers and math coaches in all of our partner schools around Puget Sound.  A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of  sponsoring 5 of those local teachers to attend the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in Philadelphia.  These stellar teachers spent 3 days soaking up the newest math curricula, boning up on Common Core Standards and bringing back the best engagement strategies to their respective schools.

If you haven’t seen it, check out our Thoughts on NCTM from our staff over on the Math Matters Blog.  And, click below to hear from these teachers in their OWN words what they experienced.

THANK YOU TEACHERS, and Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Thanks to overwhelming support from our generous donors, we raised $5,196 during GiveBIG! We cheered all day as the donations rolled in and celebrated at our GiveBIG Gamebowl where 6 teams competed in math jeopardy, play the mathematician and the hungry, hungry hippos bonus round.  Make sure to visit us on Facebook for a recap of all the fun.

$5,196 will allow us to bring fun and engaging math opportunities to two local schools. THANK YOU for your support! Special thanks to the Seattle Foundation for making this all possible and to the generous stretch pool sponsors.  Here’s to making history in King County!!

Meet Joe Sullivan, Explorations in Math volunteer and budding volunteer leader. Joe has served as a volunteer and crew chief at MathFest, a game-play and auction volunteer at our fundraiser, Make a Move for Math. Joe’s experience as an EIM volunteer has led him to request an even more impactful volunteer role in the advancement of the math movement.  We really enjoy his enthusiasm and his generous donation of time with our organization.

Day job: Operations and Logistics Manager for ImagiCorps, a brand marketing company.

Memorable moment volunteering w/ us: That’s easy … When the doors opened to the gymnasium for my first Math Fest!! It was like they were storming into an amusement park on the first day of summer vacation. So many excited little faces. I had many really wonderful interactions with the kids as well as the parents and fellow volunteers.

Learn More about Joe and our other Volunteers on our Volunteer Spotlight Page!

Interested in volunteering with Explorations in Math?

Check out our open Volunteer Opportunities or email Carol Ryan for more information.

GiveBIG is here!  Today is the day to be a part of history and help make May 2nd the largest day of philanthropy in King County!

From midnight to midnight TODAY, click here, to support Explorations in Math.

Explorations in Math aims to raise 7,500 on GiveBIG to help cover the costs associated with offering the full suite of our programming in 3 Puget Sound elementary schools.

With GiveBIG you can grow your gift.  Our totals from the day will make Explorations in Math eligible for a portion of The Seattle Foundation’s Stretch Pool which is made possible thanks to many generous sponsors. And, each donation will increase our chances of getting selected for a ‘Golden Ticket’ – an additional $1,000 donation from The Seattle Foundation. Learn more about how GiveBIG works here.

Thank you for your support!

We’re just one week away from one of the biggest days of giving and this year, Explorations in Math is rallying support to subsidize the costs associated with offering our full suite of our programming for 3 Puget Sound schools.

But who do you engage to help foster a math culture? And how does that transfer to student success?  Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary knows.  For the first time, MLK, Jr. Elementary was able to sign up for our Mathematician in Residence (MIR) Program. Our MIR program is a 30-week, two hour, in-school, teacher development program that teams an expert math coach with a teacher in his or her classroom.  The program allows teachers to build their confidence in teaching math and their repertoire of fun and educational math activities to better engage their students in mathematics.  Our Head Teacher, Joseph Thompson, worked with several teachers at MLK and made a profound impact.  MLK’s Principal, Cothron McMillian shared the following, “My teachers have grown because of Joseph.  The calm persistence and confidentiality has been key to staff responding well and priceless for student success.”   An MLK Teacher shared, “I love teaching math even more. MLK plans to continue partnering with Explorations in Math and have focused all of their school goals towards math.

Interested in supporting math culture? Make an appointment for change!

Click here to add us to your calendar for May 2^nd and GiveBIG!

GiveBIG is only 2 weeks away! And this year, Explorations in Math is rallying support to subsidize the costs associated with offering our full suite of our programming for 3 Puget Sound schools.

Interested in supporting math culture?

Click here to add us to your calendar for May 2nd!

We’ve seen math culture in the making at each of our partner schools over the years.  But when you help us give the gift of math culture – what does that success look like?  It looks like John Muir Elementary –  one of EIMs original pilot schools and a strong EIM partner for the last 7 years. After a full engagement session had identified several areas of need, EIM was able to personalize the program elements and the Mathematician in Residence (MIR) to fill those needs. The principal was very interested in offering a pre-teaching workshop with her staff, something the district was unable to offer. EIM’s MIR team stepped in and made it happen. Teachers at Muir have continued to be supported by Dave Gardner, EIM’s original head teacher.  Math clubs at the school continue to be fully enrolled. The challenge board, managed by a parent, has over 40% participation each month compared to the EIM Partner School average of 25%.  Muir continues to host large Family Math Nights that bring 200+ students, parents and guardians in the door for a fun evening of games.

John Muir has been able to grow and sustain their math culture through strong leadership, an engaged and motivated staff and involved parents.

Give the same positive math culture to another school in our community.  

GiveBIG to Explorations in Math on May 2.

GiveBIG is back on May 2nd and bigger than ever before! And this year, Explorations in Math is rallying support to raise $7,500 for our programs. Why $7,500 you say?  $7,500 will subsidize the costs associated with offering the full suite of our programming for 3 of our partner schools! 

But what does that change look like? We’ve seen math culture in the making at each of our partner schools over the years. Schools like Rachel Carson Elementary in Sammamish.  They heard about the program by principal word-of-mouth and knew they wanted in on the culture movement.   The principal was very impressed that EIM math recommendations were very closely aligned with their own internal goals and the strategies given would be a helpful addition to their planning.  Carson’s first ever Family Math Night was a huge success with almost 70 parents attending the Mathways Workshop and 150 students attending.  Their Math Clubs have a waiting list after 2 trimesters and the club teachers have adopted much of the curriculum to their classroom teaching. The Principal, Mary Cronin, was quoted as saying, “You don’t know what you have started in this school, teachers and kids playing and talking about math everywhere.”  One student mentioned to his friend “You have got to sign up for Math Club, it’s the place to be.”

The result? The whole community is excited for more math culture.

Bring the same excitement to another school in our community.  

GiveBIG to Explorations in Math on May 2.

On May 2nd, The Seattle Foundation is hosting the 2nd annual GiveBIG and plans to make history again by rallying thousands of donors to support local organizations.  Explorations in Math is taking on the GiveBIG challenge again and aims to raise 7,500 on May 2nd.

Excited to Give BIG on May 2nd? Add it to your calendar below!

Add to Outlook/Gmail (iCal)        Other Formats (vCal)

We are dedicated to helping every child build a positive relationship with math.  As a result, we have a tiered pricing system based on free and reduced price lunch rates which ensures that all schools can implement our programs and kids in our most economically challenged areas still have access to extra-curricular math help and a positive math culture. $7,500 will subsidize the costs associated with offering the full suite of our programming for 3 of our partner schools! 

Thanks to many generous sponsors the Seattle Foundation has built a special stretch pool of funds that they will donate to local non-profits for GiveBIG.  The more we raise, the more of the stretch pool $ we will receive!

Help us make our goal a reality by spreading the word about GiveBIG. Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter and rally your friends to do the same!  Stay connected to hear stories about the partner schools your gift could support. Then, on May 2nd look for the GiveBIG button on our site to donate.

On March 24th Explorations in Math hosted our 2nd annual Eastside MathFest at Lakeview Elementary! Over 350 participants representing our nine Eastside partner schools showed up to have fun with math!  It was truly math culture in the making, as hundreds joined the Math Movement before our eyes.

Congratulations to Eastside MathFest 2012 Spirit Award Winner Lakeview Elementary and their Principal Shawna Rothaus! Special shout out to 2^nd runner-up Chestnut Hill Academy and their Head of School, Holly Senaga!

Hats off to all of the parents who demonstrated their commitment to making math a priority by taking time out of their weekend to play math!

Please join us in thanking the 150 MathFest volunteers and our generous sponsors: Microsoft, Educational Legacy Fund, Perfect Copy and Print and Seattle Bagel Bakery.  Many thanks to Lakeview Elementary for hosting this incredible event!

Check out our MathFest photos here.