When most people think of math, the first thoughts are usually of tests, homework and textbooks, and rarely do fun or festival factor into the equation. Hart Middle School is changing all that as students in the sixth and seventh grades will spend their math periods going through the school’s first ever Mathematics Festival on Thursday, May 11. Nearly 800 students will participate in the Festival, which will be set in the Hart multipurpose room, and many parent volunteers are helping run the program. Carol Daly, a seventh grade Algebra and Honors teacher at Hart, led the effort to bring this Festival, the first of its kind in Pleasanton, to the school.
“It’s very exciting to do something new with the math classes,” Daly said.
The California Mathematics Council runs the Festival program and funds to bring it to Hart came from the Parent Faculty Association. Daly first heard of the Festival during a math conference she attended in December and thought it was such a great idea that she decided to bring it to Hart.
“I wanted to have the Festival at Hart to make math real for the students,” Daly said. “So they could have hands on experiences and experience a different way of doing things. It makes it an interesting day for them.”
The Festival will focus on improving students’ Algebra skills by having students go through 14 stations centered on one or more key math concepts from the California Mathematics Standards. Each station has 12-18 different math tasks to meet all students’ abilities and skills and the activities are all hands on. The CMC also offers Festivals in Geometry and basic math skills for the younger grades.
“I hope students learn some math and that they enjoy the day and become excited about math,” Daly said.
–Rebecca Guyon
