In the 2022-2023 academic year, Dr. Frank Neubrander, Executive Director and Chair of the LSU Gordon A. Cain Center for STEM Literacy, sponsored math clubs at GEO Prep Academy of Greater Baton Rouge and GEO Mid-City. There, the club sponsors, Ms. DeBose, Ms. McDonald, Mr. Young and Ms. King met with their Matheletes twice per week, for 2 semesters, to prepare them for the Noetic Learning Math Contest (NLMC), a biannual problem-solving competition. In the contest, students independently tackled 20 problems within a time limit of 45 minutes. They relied solely on their problem-solving abilities, without the aid of calculators or their coaches.
This year’s NLMC attracted over 35,000 participants nationwide, including 8,357 fourth graders, 8,075 fifth graders, 4,021 sixth graders, and 1,782 seventh graders. Congratulations are in order for all the GEO Prep Academy Mathletes who took part—notably, 36 students received recognition as team winners and national award-winning scholars! We applaud their remarkable accomplishments and extend our wishes for continued success in the upcoming school year.
The students themselves expressed their enthusiasm for the math clubs and their experiences during the academic year:
K. Paul (5th Grade): “It was an amazing year having fun with math. I loved how I got to connect with different people from each grade level. It was a whole new level of math!”
K. Samuel (5th Grade): “I loved being a Mathlete. The questions were tricky, but since we have learned so much, it wasn't that bad. It was a whole new experience.”
M. Leonard (5th Grade): “This year really helped me thrive and get better. I had fun with everyone.”
S. Hudson (5th Grade): “This year was a good year for us Mathletes, and I had fun with all of the times we had. I am also glad about what I scored. This club makes me smarter.”
G. West (4th Grade): “I had a great time working out problems with my friends.”
S. Brown (7th Grade): “I enjoyed the challenging math problems in math club.”
These heartfelt testimonies highlight the joy and personal growth experienced by the students in their math journey, confirming the positive impact of the math clubs by promoting exploration and creativity, interaction with peers, confidence building, problem-solving skills, emotional development, as well as learning and knowledge acquisition.
Interested in starting a Math Club at your school? Please contact Dr. Neubrander: neubrand@math.lsu.edu to make arrangements.
A special thanks to Ms. Johnette Roberts Ballard, one of our VIP partners in Mathematics Education, for helping to set up the Math Clubs at GEO Prep Academy of Greater Baton Rouge and GEO Mid-City and for providing us with content and a photograph for this spotlight—we appreciate you!
