Summer program teaches math through arts.

Educator Carl DeLorey says he hates math, is bad at it, and has a fear of it. So why is he directing a summer math academy at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School to help students at risk of not passing the math portion of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)?

DeLorey feels his experience with math makes him sensitive to the kids who struggle in this subject, and gives him a passion for wanting to share with them a broader vision of the quantitative world. That vision is that math is the breath of life; it is the basis of creation and the harmony of nature.

DeLorey, a teacher at Keefe Technical High School in Framingham, has pulled together 12 teachers from around the region to offer at Valley Tech an innovative program that teaches math concepts through the five senses and creative arts. The 50-55 students spend a total of 60 hours learning math through hands-on projects in music, art, photography, culinary arts, and sports. Each program area is taught by a team that includes a certified math teacher and a professional artisan. The math academy is funded by a state grant.

During a recent session, students in the culinary arts class were making mini-apple pies to learn fractions and how to use algebra to change the recipe size. Math teacher Phil Brown commented, "It's very empowering. Students say, 'I can do this!' It's not just 'stupid math".

Waldo Agostini, a student enjoying the fruits of the apple pie lesson, concluded, "Cooking rules!" Other students agreed, and some added that word problems have become easier for them through the cooking program.

Photography student Amy O'Leary said she didn't realize photography involved so much math - probabilities, angles, measurements. The class was taking and developing pictures from pinhole cameras they had made with shoeboxes.

Students in Johl DeLorey and David Worden's art class had made scale models of fish. Starting with a small two-dimensional picture, the students used fractions, measurement, comparison of relative length, and other formulas to construct large, three-dimensional paper fish.

Local musician A.J. Vallee and math teacher Aaron Caruso's percussion class was pounding out rhythms on an assortment of instruments. Vallee, leading on a drum, introduced changes in each student's beat while keeping the whole group in sync - another lesson in fractions.

Meanwhile in the math in sports class, students had completed a slow bike race. This event required riding around a measured perimeter of a rectangle at as slow a speed as possible, which was calculated in meters per second. They also played horseshoes to learn probability and estimate predictions.

The math academy team is hoping to start plotting the impact of this program on math scores. The program teachers assess each student, but DeLorey would also like more dialogue with the students' regular math teachers to follow their progress.

"Our hope is that in 18-19 days we can have the kids have a new zest of feeling that math is more than paper and pencil problems, more than figuring out change for a cup of coffee, but that it's the breath of life," said DeLorey. "We want to re-excite, re-invest the student who has learned adverse feeling against math."

Read previous Focus on Education articles...

Six years of focusing on education. (November 2006)
Teachers apply lessons to the workplace in externships. (October 2006)
Teachers tour growing Blackstone Valley industries. (November 2005)
Summer learning abounds in Blackstone Valley. (July 2005)
Teachers tour growing Blackstone Valley industries. (April 2005)
Preparing for the future while living in the present. (March 2005)
Local hero gives charge to youth leadership class. (December 2004)
Externships provide on-the-job training. (September 2004)
Interns reflect on career experiences. (May 2004)
Creative programs thrive with support from Education Foundation grants. (May 2003)
Business mentors see their shadow on job shadow day. (February 2003)
Teacher learns on the job in business externship. (August 2002)
Summer program teaches math through arts. (July 2002)
Junior Rangers learn nature know-how in area parks. (June 2002)
Leadership Blackstone Valley graduates ready to create the future. (May 2002)
State's schools face looming teacher shortage. (April 2002)
Art program bridges subjects, learning styles, and community. (March 2002)
Students shadow career mentors on Groundhog Job Shadow Day. (February 2002)
Parent involvement the key to student success. (October 2001)

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