GEAR UP Waco 'Math Madness' Coming To Baylor Friday
Thirty sixth-grade students from Lake Air Middle School will connect math with the real world as they tackle the "Math Trail" Friday morning on the Baylor University campus. The event is part of the GEAR UP Waco Math Initiative called "Math Madness," which is designed to motivate middle school students' interest in attending college and help them recognize the value of mathematics in everyday life.
Lake Air teacher, Linda Massingill, and her students will begin their day at 9 a.m. in the math education lab (room 211) in the Draper Academic Building. Led by Baylor math education students, the "Math Trail" will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the stone monument in front of Draper.
For the next hour, students will discover everyday math on light poles; at the smoothie store in the Bill Daniel Student Center; from a Fifth Street sidewalk, where they can see and count cars on the interstate; on the green space by Marrs McLean Gymnasium, where they will conduct a population density analysis; on the sidewalk ramp going up to the grounds in front of Burleson Quadrangle; and then on the brick seal/circle area in front of Burleson.
The sixth graders will return to Draper 211 at 10:30 a.m. to complete their solution project - a poster presentation - to share with the group. At 11:30 a.m., they will eat lunch in Memorial dining hall, then visit the Bear Plaza and the Mayborn Museum Complex.
GEAR UP Waco is a comprehensive, collaborative initiative focused on preparing at-risk students academically and socially for college. GEAR UP Waco is funded by a $6 million federal grant from the Department of Education and includes such partners as Baylor, Texas State Technical College, McLennan Community College, Communities in Schools/McLennan County Youth Collaboration, Waco I.S.D., Waco Foundation and the City of Waco.
For more information, contact Dr. Trena Wilkerson, associate professor of curriculum and instruction in the School of Education, at (254) 710-6162 or mobile (254) 717-4628. Other Baylor faculty participating in "Math Madness" will be Dr. Tommy Bryan, senior lecturer in mathematics, and Kristal Key, graduate student in curriculum and instruction.