For Immediate Release

Monday, Jan. 29, 2018

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Jacobs Elementary School Students Participate in Math League Enrichment Program

HULL — Principal Christine Cappadona is pleased to announce that the Lillian M. Jacobs Elementary School kicked off its annual Math League to help students get excited about the subject.

Designed as a 12-week enrichment program, students in third, fourth and fifth grades meet an hour before the start of the school day to build their confidence solving complex, multi-step math problems in a fun environment.

Every week features a new lesson, beginning with a warm up problem, followed by collaborative math activities and games, and concluding with a wrap up question and conversation. For their hard work, students are rewarded with a five-minute social break accompanied by doughnuts.

Math League has been in place at the elementary school for nine years and is run entirely by parents and guardians. An average class has a 4-to-1 student to coach ratio, in which parents provide children with suggestions and strategies to help solve a problem, if needed.

“It’s fun to work on math with friends and rely on them for help,” said fifth grader Dillon Simpson-Sliney, who is new to the program this year.

Program coordinators Jay Fleck, Laurie McDowell and Chris Lofgren have seen the impact the extra hour of learning has had on students over the years. Additionally, the use of math games has become an essential piece of the curriculum at the Jacobs School, as studies have increasingly shown a direct correlation between an increase in math games and student achievement.

Math League runs from January to April, ending right before the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) starts.

“In the three years I have been a Math League coordinator, it has been gratifying to see the development in the students,” Fleck said. “We have consistently had approximately 30 percent of the students in each grade participate in the program and can correlate participation in Math League to higher MCAS scores.”

Before the program ends, Math League students will participate in a t-shirt design contest to be voted on by all the participants and worn on the last day of the Math League.

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