Students at Woodside Elementary School in Sussex celebrate their first ever school-wide Math Day to promote a love of math and an interest in math-related fields. Activities such as a scavenger hunt for shapes, math riddles posted throughout the building and a paper airplane competition were used to build student confidence in using math skills. Math Day culminated with a school-wide assembly featuring Hamilton High School students from the Charger Robotics team who explained how they use math to design, build and operate robots.
“Our first Math Day was a huge success,” exclaims Woodside Elementary School Principal Melissa Horn. “It was a fun-filled day of math activities in every classroom, designed to show just how enjoyable—and important—math can be! Throughout the day, students explored different math games, puzzles and challenges,” she adds.
“Math Day was designed to help students see the real-world value of math in everyday life,” says Woodside Elementary School Instructional Coach Jacob Tenaglia. “From a math scavenger hunt on the nature trail to estimating erasers and measuring the distance of paper airplanes, students were fully engaged,” says Tenaglia. “The visit from the high school robotics team showing how they use math to build robots was a standout moment!”
Parents were also invited to get involved in Math Day. Many submitted short testimonials to be included in the Woodside Math Day video highlighting how people use math at work. Parents explained how they use math in careers such as pharmacy, digital analytics, plant management, engineering and finance.
“The energy was electric all day and hearing from parents about how they use math in their careers made it clear to students that math is something they can do and something that can empower them in the future,” shares Tenaglia.
“At the school-wide assembly we celebrated competition winners and had a grand champion for the longest distance a paper airplane could fly,” says Horn. “It was a memorable day that may become a tradition at Woodside!”