The Bayside secondary campuses (Bayside Sixth-Grade Campus, Bayside Middle, and Bayside High School) recently came together to co-host a family math night at Bayside High School.
The Math Specialists from the three campuses (Jacqueline Blair, Bayside High; Anna Surratt, Bayside Sixth-Grade Campus; and Erin Vickrey, Bayside Middle) collaborated to plan and implement the event with the goals of providing parents and students a forum through which students demonstrate leadership in mathematics, increase confidence in mathematics, and communicate their learning to their peers and families.
The vision for the event ignited from a desire to change student and family mindsets toward mathematics.
“Parents face a challenge in supporting their students in secondary mathematics,” Vickrey said. “We really wanted both parents and students to understand that math is fun and applicable in daily life.”
There were more than 20 stations led by students in the sixth through 12th grades, explaining math concepts and projects. Students facilitated mathematics games, investigations, and demonstrations of mathematical applications in the real world aligned to current and previously taught objectives.
Some stations included make-and-take manipulatives, models, and games for parents and students to use at home.
“I had nice time with my family,” said Bayside sixth-grader Ciarra Curry. “I got to learn 12th grade stuff from my sister and I was able to show her what I am learning in sixth grade, too. It was a cool experience to share with my family.”
The math specialists at all three campuses felt the night was successful in watching the Bayside students truly exemplify and enjoy leadership in learning and teaching mathematics.
Kudos to the principals and their teams at the three campuses for creating this opportunity to showcase math. Events such as this can truly bring the greater school community together as a collaborative partnership in improving student achievement.
The BHS Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow students also ran the “Math Babysitting Room” for all of the younger kids who attended the event with their families. Various stations were set up including: iPad math games, shape hopscotch, macaroni necklace with counting, color by numbers, and math card/board games. Ten “big” kids volunteered their time, and the “little” kids didn’t want to leave when their parents came back to get them! It was a great night!!