Math group celebrates accomplishments
Easy as Pi: The Coshocton High School eighth graders who participated in the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance’s (EODA) Easy as Pi program show off the t-shirts they received at their end of the year pizza party. Pictured with the students is their coach Christi Fauver and EODA representatives Paul Prater and Dorothy Skowrunski. Beacon photo by Josie Sellers
COSHOCTON – Taking time to do extra math work paid off for a group of eighth graders at Coshocton High School.
Michael Guilliams, Quentin Navedo, Hayley Nelson, Nancy Nguyen, Jalen Shutt, Brady Tyo, Jackson Unger and Tala Yager were all treated to a pizza party April 13 for completing the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance’s (EODA) Easy as Pi program.
Paul Prater from the EODA said the students used a free online tool called Khan Academy to help them sharpen their math skills.
“It’s helpful to learn how to use it because later on if you are having difficulty with something you can get back on it and use it to help you,” Prater said. “It’s for all age groups. Even adults can use it.”
He has used the program to help him with statistics coursework and said Bill Gates’ kids used it.
“It’s good for college prep and even practicing very basic math skills,” said Dorothy Skowrunski, who also is with the EODA.
Easy as Pi was started three years ago and EODA provides funds to sponsor the program, but it requires a teacher who is willing to commit to leading the effort in each school. At Coshocton that person was Christi Fauver, who teaches eighth grade math.
“We appreciate Christi taking the time to do this,” Skowrunski said.
This is the second year Fauver has led the program at Coshocton.
“I took all volunteers this year and they did everything on their own time,” she said. “Some of them did math at just their grade level and some of them went above.”
The math work the students completed through Khan Academy earned them points and prizes that were passed out at their pizza party.
“The harder the task, the more points they earned,” Fauver said.
Nelson was the top points earned and received gift certificates from Domino’s, Subway and Whit’s.
She was excited about getting to attend the pizza party, but also found the program to be helpful.
“If you went over a topic before you had it in class it was easier to understand when we got to it,” Nelson said.
Shutt also was glad she was part of the group.
“Even though I like math I still found it helpful,” she said. “I would recommend it to other students because it makes math easier with the hints it gives you.”
The Easy as Pi program runs during each school year from fall to spring and ends with prizes, pizza and a gift of a personalized t-shirt.
“I like math because it’s challenging and this helped get me prepared for next year and doing algebra,” Yager said. “I’d recommend it to other kids.”
The program is available upon request with the support of a donor, the school and a teacher. The goal is to have at least one Easy as Pi math team in each of the 16 counties that EODA serves.
“I like the food and prizes and I appreciate the people that made that happen,” Guilliams said. “The program also is nice because you get to go over things more if you need to and it teaches you how to do certain things.”
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
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