Sunday, March 6, 2011

do the math–figure it out

Yesterday Bethany participated in the Whatcom County Math Championships with 3 of her classmates. Her teacher gave them a few extra math lessons after school on Mondays for a few weeks and took the group down to the community college to compete in individual, mental math, and team tests.

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That’s right. Three girls. One boy. Kind of goes against the typical stereotype there. Ed went along as a parent chaperone and he says that one boy is super-smart. They were doing math problems on the way and Ed says he got every one right. But still. Three girls. One boy. Niiiiiiice!

Many, many, moons ago I also went to the Math Olympiad, as it was called back then. I, unlike Bethany, was not good at Math. But, my brother was going and I think my math teacher thought maybe if she pretended I was good in math and treated me like I was good in math, I might just be good in math. And it worked. For the two years I had that teacher, I got the best grades in math of my life, until I got to college. (Although my getting a straight A in “Teaching Elementary Math” might not count to some people). Anyway, all that to say, teachers have a big impact in their students’ lives. And so far, Mrs. T. is having a great impact on my Bethany.

Since Ed was on the field trip, the pictures are minimal and this is all I’ve got of Mrs. T, but at least she’s being very teacher-ly:

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Anyway, Bethany truly is good at math. In the individual tests, she scored the highest out of her group of 4, which earned her a ribbon!

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Congratulations, Bethany! We are so proud of you!

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