Working Together To Impact Mathematics Achievement of St. Louis Area Students

One Corporate Sponsor, One Private School, MATH FACT SCHOLARS & 35 Parent, High School Student and CBG Agent Volunteers
Every Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. during the past 12 months, kindergarten through 6th grade students from 40 different area schools rush into CBC High School in Town & Country and get in line to take math tests for the next 30 minutes. The students always arrive with a sense of excitement and enthusiasm, knowing their efforts during the next half hour will bring them closer to earning another math achievement award as they progress through the seven (7) levels in the MATH FACT SCHOLARS program. The students in the program advance their math skills from basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts to working with fractions, decimals and percentages.

As students line up awaiting the first round of math testing to begin, parent volunteers, Coldwell Banker Gundaker, Town & Country agent volunteers and high school student volunteers move into their volunteer positions…ready to begin grading math tests, managing the testing room, filing graded tests, etc. during the 30 minute testing session.

“I enjoy the diversity of ages, heritage, personalities, & skill sets of the Math Fact Scholars children in the program. It’s like being in a one room school house where everyone is receiving a valuable education at their own pace. I’m personally rewarded every time I volunteer at one of the sessions. I’m rewarded with the smiles on the children’s faces, their enthusiasm for math and the joy and sense of accomplishment they feel as they work through the program. It’s a fun environment for everyone.” says, Wayne Deen, a Town & Country CBG agent that has volunteered almost every week during the past year.

Elizabeth Kayser, a parent volunteer, says “I volunteer each week and enjoy grading the fraction, decimal and percent level tests for the children in the program. It is remarkable to witness each child’s determination to pass each test, only to move on to an even more challenging math skill test.” Kayser added, “It is such a positive and encouraging environment, you even hear the kids encouraging other kids to press on and give it another try.” Elizabeth enrolled her son, Jack, in the MATH FACT SCHOLARS Community Mathematics Program when it first started in February, 2011. Now in 3rd grade, Jack is already half way through the 4th level in the program working on multi-digit computation using the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division quick recall skills he developed in the first three levels of the program.

The MATH FACT SCHOLARS Community Mathematics Program celebrates its first anniversary on Tuesday, February 7, 2012. The program is made available to the community thanks to the sponsorship of the Coldwell Banker Gundaker’s, Town & Country office and CBC High School in Town & Country that provides testing space for the weekly math testing sessions.