Math made interesting

Courtesy photo/Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School

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SALT LAKE CITY — Reading, writing and arithmetic… That is how it happened at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School. For many years, our reading intervention program was our primary academic focus. That program has soared under the direction of Sue Patillo and made room for new growth and inspired learning.

Most recently, our math program has found its wings as well. We integrated a new math curriculum for kindergarten through eighth grade. It sets the stage for our stellar middle school math under the direction of Lisa Jackson, and junior high math taught by Anita Klebba and Victor Siebeneck, both Judge Memorial faculty members. Heather Lutmer also plays an important role in our math department by taking students out for small group instruction in the lower grades so that they are ready for the math concepts taught in middle school and beyond.

In addition to having students work in small groups based on ability level, the new math program offers several engaging "extracurricular" activities to keep students interested and learning. For example, the sixth through eighth grades participated in the American Math Challenge on Oct. 12-13, which is an intense and competitive battle of the minds for math lovers. Also, for the second year in a row, Our Lady of Lourdes will participate in World Maths Day. This interactive, global event connects children from around the world in live games of mental arithmetic. In addition, for the seventh year running, our students will take part in the Math Counts competition. Hayley Dahlhauser and Erik Poppleton, two Judge Memorial Catholic High School students who helped take the Lourdes team to the state championship in 2009, will be on hand to help the students this year as they work to take the competition by storm.

On a daily basis, Lisa Jackson keeps math interesting and engaging by using fantasy football and parish-level basketball and volleyball teams statistics to teach math concepts ranging from raw data to numbers then onto fractions, decimals, percents, and averages. The kids love the practical application and somehow never struggle to get homework turned in on time when it means their fantasy football success. So, from reading to writing and now to arithmetic, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School continues to innovate, expand, expound, and excel. Watch out! Science is next…

Courtesy of Rachel Crosswhite/Our Lady of Lourdes