Mathematics mania
<p>C.J. Ward, a third grader at Skyway Elementary School in Coeur d'Alene, gets hyped up on Friday during a rally for the Second Annual Think Through Math “Mountain State Challenge” against Utah Public Schools.</p>
<p>A teacher throws a football into a crowd of Skyway Elementary School students on Friday as a reward for answering questions on how to prepare for Second Annual Think Through Math "Mountain State Challenge" against Utah Public Schools.</p>
<p>Skyway Elementary School students raise their hands to answer a question given by a teacher during a rally Friday at Skyway to get the students excited for the Second Annual Think Through Math "Mountain State Challenge" against Utah Public Schools, which begins next week. </p>
COEUR d'ALENE — What brought more than 300 students at Skyway Elementary School in Coeur d'Alene on Friday afternoon to scream at earth-shattering decibels?
A math competition. Yes, you read that right.
Skyway was one of five elementary schools across the state to hold a rally, which kicked off Think Through Math's second "Mountain State Challenge" against public schools in Utah. Fourth-grade teacher Dianne Howard told The Press Friday the challenge is beneficial to students because it gets them to improve their math skills while having a fun time.
"Skyway staff and students are always up for a competition," Howard said. "And we are motivated to win."
Think Through Math offers web-based math lessons for third- through eighth-graders and works by engaging students with content that automatically adapts to their individual pace and skill level. More than 700 schools in Idaho use the program.
"(It) provides rigorous adaptive lessons built on state-specific standards," Howard said. "The program motivates students by rewarding points for completed lessons. Students are then able to donate points to a monthly charity, class pizza party, or design their avatars."
A group of 11 students began the rally by performing a rap song with lyrics specially created to get their peers hyped up for the contest. After the rousing performance, TTM Instructional Coach Donette Pickett told the gathered students that Skyway was selected to participate in the first week of the month-long competition because they were already working hard, passing the greatest number of lessons and performing well in math.
"So your school was selected to help Idaho win a math contest against what state?" Pickett asked.
"Utah!" the group of students enthusiastically replied.
Pickett then spoke to students on methods they could use, such as creating a journal and practicing on paper, to improve their lesson scores and increase their chances of winning bragging rights for a whole year. She added that the class that performs the best in Skyway will be named "MVPs" and get its own pizza party.
The students at Skyway will begin competing next week and have the opportunity to complete lessons through Sunday, Nov. 15. After that, another group of five elementary schools in Idaho will begin competing against a new set of schools in Utah.
After the rally, C.J. Ward confidently nodded his head when asked by The Press if Idaho schools would come out victorious over their Utah counterparts.
"Yeah, we're going to beat them," C.J., a third-grade student said.
"Plus, we're awesome," Boston Spear, a fourth-grader, added.