World Math Day at Woodhull School
Math teachers Laraine Schirripa and Christine Barresi are real pros. The two veterans have many years of experience working with Huntington students and they use that knowledge to the advantage of everyone.
Ms. Schirripa and Ms. Barresi are willing to explore innovative practices and try something new to generate additional interest and excitement among the youngsters they work with each day at Woodhull Intermediate School.
Woodhull celebrated World Math Day earlier this month. It's a competition that involves students around the globe answering mental arithmetic questions. Ms. Schirripa and Ms. Barresi organized Woodhull's participation in the massive initiative.
Prior to the competition, every Woodhull student was registered to participate. During February, there were practice sessions for students to increase speed and fluency with their math facts. Data from those sessions was used to determine the top scorers in the school.
March 7 was a special day at Woodhull School as 14 youngsters gathered in the school's computer lab for the final round with peers from dozens of countries across the globe, including such faraway lands as Hong Kong and South Africa. Meanwhile, every Woodhull student, regardless of their earlier score, was encouraged to compete in their classrooms and at home on the big day.
The top ten Woodhull students scoring the most correct answers were: Nicholas Earle, Timothy Earle, Ryan Hoffman, Ethan Garcia, Katie Seccafico, Alyssa Sorensen, Nicholas Haupt, Jordan McCoy, Matthew Hearle, and Erich Gaiting. The youngsters were awarded certificates and the students who participated in all 50 World Math Day games were presented with sapphire certificates.
The initiative allowed students to practice their math facts, learn geography and become aware of the different time zones around the globe. The youngsters were very excited and enthusiastic.
"This was a wonderful opportunity for all Woodhull students to practice their math skills with students from around the world," Principal Mary Stokkers said.