Students, Teachers in Baylor/Waco ISD Partnership S.T.O.M.P. onto Baylor Campus
Media contact: Lori Fogleman, director of media communications, (254) 710-6275
More than 150 students from seven Waco ISD middle schools will be "stomping" around the Baylor University campus July 9-13 and again July 23-27, as they participate in Project S.T.O.M.P. (Summer Travels Opening Mathematical Possibilities), a Baylor and WISD initiative funded through the GEAR UP Waco grant.
The Project S.T.O.M.P. adventures will introduce students to a host of opportunities to apply mathematics in the real world, bring awareness to varied career opportunities, and support their learning of mathematics.
The students will:
? work with mathematicians, educators and scientists
? visit Baylor's Mayborn Museum and Texas State Technical College
? muck through the Waco Wetlands (if the weather permits)
? design kites
? find mathematics on the football field at Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium
? and use technology, such as Palm Pilots, graphing calculators and computers in their mathematical explorations.
And what about their math teachers? They will be attending the Summer Mathematics Institute, held in conjunction with Project S.T.O.M.P. and part of the Math Initiative of GEAR UP Waco.
Teachers will be engaged in some of the same activities as their students, but they will examine the lessons and activities as they relate to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and develop lessons to implement on their campuses during the upcoming school year. Teachers also will learn to use Palm Pilots, computer software and graphing calculators to support student learning and engagement in mathematics.
Baylor's department of curriculum and instruction in the School of Education, is hosting Project S.T.O.M.P., with participation from other Baylor entities, such as the mathematics department, the Waco Wetlands Project and The Mayborn Museum.
Dr. Rachelle Meyer is the summer camp and teacher institute director. She is a mathematics education lecturer in the department of curriculum and instruction.
GEAR UP Waco (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a comprehensive, collaborative initiative focused on preparing at-risk students academically and socially for college. It is funded by a six-year, $11.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education that involves partners Baylor University, Waco ISD, Texas State Technical College-Waco, the City of Waco, McLennan County Youth Council and the Academy for Education Development.
The purpose of the partnership is to ensure that students in Waco ISD (grades 6-8 in seven middle schools, Brazos, G.W. Carver, Lake Air, G.L. Wiley, Cesar Chavez, University Middle and Tennyson) and the ninth grade cohort at three high schools, A.J. Moore Academy, University High and Waco High) have access to rigorous courses that prepare them for college and to provide a support system dedicated to providing students and their parents the inspiration and information necessary for a successful transition to college. Dr. Jewel Lockridge is the GEAR UP Project Director.
Through the GEAR UP grant, Baylor and Waco ISD have developed several partnerships, including the Math Initiative, which engages rising seventh graders in mathematical explorations and projects.
For more information, contact Dr. Trena L. Wilkerson, associate professor of mathematics education in the department of curriculum and instruction and Math Initiative project director, at (254) 710-6162 or cell (254) 717-4628. She can also be reached at Trena_Wilkerson@baylor.edu.