Math Counts succeeds due to staff collaboration

I am writing to share the joy that I was able to witness and to extend a huge thank you to Kathleen Blasi.

The Adams 12 Five Star Schools Math Counts Competition provides the opportunity for over 120 of our middle school students to engage with one another in excitement, enthusiasm and debate around mathematics and problem solving.

The student teams that join together for the Math Counts Competition have an opportunity to shine and be seen in such an amazing way. They huddle in school teams and celebrate their “gift” of a love for mathematics. Students cheer and engage in empathy for their teammates as they join parents and families in watching the "speed round" of the competition. This round showcases the top 10 mathematicians of the day as they compete head to head in solving math problems given in an oral setting.

Kathleen works tirelessly each year to make this opportunity available and incredibly special for our students. She organizes everything to a tee and the students enjoy donuts, snacks, and pizza as they excitedly debate the answers they wrote on the papers during the previous round.

Our teachers give up their Saturdays to coach and support students, in mathematics! High school students volunteer their Saturday to score the “tests” throughout the morning.

My hope in writing this is simply to share with you, from my sideline view, one more way that we as a district are reaching out to ALL of our kids! Recognizing their names and their STRENGTHS. What a celebration!

Special thanks to the Rocky Top Middle School community for submitting this Five Star Story.

This story exemplifies our ELEVATE Focus Area: 21st Century Learners. Sharing stories of students who collaborate, think critically, problem-solve and are digitally literate to thrive in today’s ever-changing world.