The Somerville Mathematics Fund is looking for students to compete in the 7th annual Scrapheap Showdown

The Somerville Mathematics fund is repeating its successful creative problem-solving competition.  Head down to the Tufts University Cousens Gym, 161 College Ave. on October 30th, 2010 from 12:00 to 5:30 for a their sixth annual Scrapheap Showdown.  Teams of three students who raise $75 or more in total donations can compete for prizes by solving a creative engineering problem using salvage materials provided the afternoon of the competition.  The competition is open to teams of students who are all residents of Somerville and who have NOT graduated from high school.  Gather your teams now! The preregistration deadline is Thursday, October 20^th.

For more information and registration materials, please visit: http://www.somervillemathematicsfund.org or contact Erica Voolich at voolich@gmail.com

If you are unable to attend, please consider making a tax deductible donation to sponsor the event or to sponsor a team.

The award-winning Somerville Mathematics Fund was chartered in September 2000 to celebrate and encourage achievement in mathematics in the city of Somerville, Massachusetts.  In May 2011, they were named the outstanding Dollars for Scholars chapter in New England. 

The Somerville Mathematics Fund provides renewable mathematics scholarships to Somerville students (private or public school graduates) who have demonstrated outstanding mathematics achievement.  In addition, The Somerville Mathematics Fund offers grants to K-12 teachers of Somerville students for projects to improve or enrich mathematics instruction in the classroom or in after-school programs.  As of June, The Somerville Mathematics Fund has awarded a total of $160,000 in four-year mathematics scholarships to forty-one students and $47,921 in teacher grants to support one hundred four teachers’ projects and fifteen emergency grants to ESCS teachers after the devasting fire.  If you would like to learn more, volunteer, or make a tax deductible contribution please visit www.somervillemathematicsfund.org or write to Erica Voolich at voolich@gmail.com.

Two Teachers who are excited about math win "Teacher of the Year" awards from the Somerville Teachers Association

By Erica Dakin Voolich

Fourth grade teachers Linda Wiegenfeld from the East Somerville Community School at Edgerly and Fran Carino from the Winter Hill Community School were each named Teacher of the Year by the Somerville Teachers Association in March. Fran is a Mathematics Curriculum Leader and each participants in the LEGO Project at Tufts University to introduce LEGOes as a way to teach science to elementary students. Linda is also a teacher winner of Somerville Mathematics Fund teacher grants supporting the mathematics work she is doing at ESCS.

When asked about receiving the award, Linda said
“I was honored to receive the award of Teacher of the Year. It was of special significance to me that the award covered the year of the fire - a very difficult year. I've been teaching for a long time but still haven't lost my passion for education. I love working in Somerville, where there have been so many opportunities to explore new ways to help students. My current projects are working with the special education inclusion committee, participating in a program from Tufts University to use LEGOes in the classroom to teach science, and serving as a Curriculum Team Leader. I occasionally write educational articles for a newspaper called The Epoch Times. I feel very lucky to have a job that suits my personality and where I can make a difference.”

and Fran said:
“I am also very proud of this award. For most of my teaching career I have taught in Somerville. Currently, I teach 4th grade at the WHCS. I am the Math Curriculum Team Leader and the PTA Treasurer. In all three roles I am able to reach out to our parents helping them to be involved in their children's education on a daily basis. As I mentioned at the award ceremony, I grew up in Somerville and my inspiration to teach came from two Somerville teachers, my kindergarten and fifth grade teachers, Mrs. Rita Fitzpatick and Mr. Paul Coakley, respectively. I hope that in my role as teacher I can inspire my students to reach for their dreams and to work hard to fulfill them.”

It is wonderful to have Somerville teachers who are excited about mathematics, winning awards for the work they are doing in our community.