Kedron, Braelinn and Peachtree City Elementary Fourth Graders Take Top Spots at Annual Math Competition

It took four tiebreakers to determine the fourth grade winners of the 11th Annual Fayette County Elementary Math Tournament, but in the end Kedron Elementary was declared the county champs.

The team of Katie Austensen, Ian Buckalew, John Norris, and Clay Lawhead (alternate) answered the most questions correctly and lead their team to victory. Last year Kedron placed third in the competition.

The Braelinn Elementary team of Brady Meyer, Yuna Shimizu, Dylan Yost and Ian Fertig (alternate) finished second with Peachtree City Elementary and the team of Iain Hemenway, Owen Henahan, Jonathan Zhang, and Lucy Stone (alternate) taking third.

The top three teams each received a trophy to take back to their school to celebrate their achievement. In addition, as the county’s fourth grade champion, Kedron’s name will be added to the plaque of champions that is displayed in the math classroom at the LaFayette Educational Center.

All 17 elementary schools had teams of three plus one alternate at the tournament. Participants were determined through each school’s math competition with the four highest scoring students advancing to the county competition.

 1st Place Kedron Elementary: (L-R) Katie Austensen, Ian Buckalew, Clay Lawhead (alternate), and John Norris with teacher Laura Griffies and daughter Susanna.

 2nd Place Braelinn Elementary: (L-R) Ian Fertig (alternate), Brady Meyer, Yuna Shimizu, and Dylan Yost with teacher Dr. Mary Lou Goehring.

3rd Place Peachtree City Elementary: (L-R) Iain Hemenway, Owen Henahan, and Jonathan Zhang with assistant principal Karen Oot. Not pictured is Lucy Stone (alternate).

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Burch, Spring Hill and Inman Elementary Winners of Fifth Grade Math Tourney

The sum of all the prime factors of 42 is subtracted from the sum of all the odd factors of 42. What is the result?

If you don’t know the answer, chances are the fifth grade math team at Robert J. Burch Elementary does. They are the champions of the 11th Annual Fayette County Elementary Math Tournament, fifth grade division.

After calculating 15 timed word problems, Anna Bridgeman, Jordan Hinnant, Shon Hoberg, and Mia Williams (alternate) took their team to victory with the most correct answers.

Also placing in the competition was second place winner Spring Hill Elementary with team members Nicholas Koenig, Albert Lambert, Aliaahil Lilywala, and Kirsten Gillette (alternate), and third place winner Inman Elementary with the team of Seth Holloway, Keagen McCartha, Juwan Wesley, and Isabel Henares (alternate).

The top three teams each received a trophy to take back to their school to celebrate their achievement. In addition, as the county’s fifth grade champion, Robert J. Burch’s name will be added to the plaque of champions that is displayed in the math classroom at the LaFayette Educational Center.

All 17 elementary schools had teams of three plus one alternate at the tournament. Participants were determined through each school’s math competition with the four highest scoring students advancing to the county competition.

 1st Place Robert J. Burch Elementary: (L-R) Anna Bridgeman, Jordan Hinnant, Shon Hoberg, and Mia Williams (alternate) with teachers Kim Watson (L) and Venita Jones (math bowl coach).

2nd Place Spring Hill Elementary: (L-R) Kirsten Gillette (alternate), Nicholas Koenig, Albert Lambert, and Aliaahil Lilywala with teacher Barbara McMillan.

3rd Place Inman Elementary: (L-R) Isabel Henares (alternate), Seth Holloway, Keagen McCartha, and Juwan Wesley with teachers (L-R) Melissa King, Sue Paggen, and principal Louis Robinson.

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New Course Textbook Available for Public Review

The textbook recommended for the new high school math course, Mathematics of Finance, is on display for public review and comment at the LaFayette Educational Center located at 205 LaFayette Avenue in Fayetteville.

The textbook will be available for review and comment through April 18 during regular office hours. The board of education will vote on the adoption of the textbook at the regular business meeting on April 19.
Mathematics of Finance is an option to Math 4 in the senior year of study.

The standards for this course were adopted by the Georgia Department of Education in November, and counts as a core unit of mathematics toward earning a high school diploma. Fayette County will offer the course next year to high school seniors.

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Fayette Continues Rein at Regional Math Tourney

Middle school math teams placed first in every division, and students swept the overall individual winners category in the Griffin RESA (Regional Educational Service Agency) 2011 Middle School Math Contest.

First place winners were Bennett’s Mill (Division I), Fayette Middle (Division II), and J.C. Booth (Division III).

Additionally, Rising Starr took second place in Division III.

Overall individual winners were Nathan Hung (first place), J.C. Booth; Seth Triplett (second place), J.C. Booth; and Nicholas Powell (third place), Bennett’s Mill.

Over 24 middle schools participated in this year’s contest, setting a new record. The regional competition included schools from Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding, and Upson counties.

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Fayette Dominates Regional Math Competition

With nine placements up for grabs, Fayette’s math students seized six of them in the 2011 High School Math Contest sponsored by Griffin RESA.

Sandy Creek, Fayette County, McIntosh, Starr’s Mill and Whitewater high schools all secured wins in the regional competition that featured over 14 schools from Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding, and Upson counties.

Sandy Creek and Fayette County High took second and third place, respectively, in Division I (smaller schools); McIntosh High took first place in Division II (larger schools); Starr’s Mill and Whitewater High tied for second.

Overall individual winners from the competition were Yuta Inaba of McIntosh High who took first place, and Ji-Shoo Shin, also of McIntosh, who placed third.

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Fayette’s Students are Head of Class in Math I and II

When it comes to math, Fayette County’s students know how to crunch numbers. So much so, that they outperformed every school district in Georgia, except Forsyth, on the End of Course Test (EOCT) for Math I and Math II.

Approximately 800 students statewide failed the exam in Math I and Math II in May. Those students who passed did so by earning C’s and D’s, but Fayette’s students did better by earning the equivalent of B’s on both tests.

For Math I, 59 percent of Fayette’s students tested at the performance level, 27 percent exceeded it and only 14 percent did not meet performance standards. In Math II, 54 percent met performance standards, 25 percent exceeded and 21 percent failed.

Compared to state percentages, 52 percent met standards in Math I, 13 percent exceeded and 36 percent failed. Math II scores show 43 percent met standards, 9 percent exceeded and 48 percent failed.

The more challenging curriculum is faster paced and introduces the complex math concepts of algebra, geometry and statistics to students sooner than before. In the standards based math classrooms, teachers talk less, spending less time “telling” and more time facilitating student conversations about the current math concept. Students become doers of math with the teacher coaching and assisting them in developing their own understanding.

Math Coordinator Lynn Ridgeway says Fayette’s high EOCT scores is attributed to teacher training that took place one year before implementation of the standards, and total teacher buy-in.

“Instead of looking for ways around this curriculum, we viewed it as an opportunity for us to become better at the teaching and learning of mathematics,” says Greg Mason, the math department chair at McIntosh High.

Everyday, Fayette’s teachers teach, reflect and revise. Math I and Math II teachers meet weekly to discuss content to be taught, appropriate instructional strategies to be used and develop common assessments.

The school system also helps students with mastery of the new standards through electives for Math I and II. These courses allow students to be concurrently enrolled in their Math I or II courses and in the matching math elective. The elective provides a preview of upcoming math vocabulary and skills in their math course and a review of prior skills that a student is still struggling to master.

“Our middle and high school math faculties have put in countless hours of preparation and independent professional learning. They have worked extremely hard to implement this new curriculum. Many of our high school math teachers have remarked that students are coming from our middle schools with a rich math vocabulary and a deeper understanding of the middle school math standards. This prior knowledge has contributed to the successful learning of the Math I and Math II content that is reflected in the EOCT scores,” says Ridgeway.

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Teachers Get Ready for the New Year

Teachers at Spring Hill Elementary spent last week getting ready to welcome students back on Monday by participating in The Leader in Me™ elementary program.

The all day training session, based on Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and Edwards Deming’s “Profound Knowledge,” was lead by Muriel Summers, principal of AB Combs Magnet Elementary School in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. The school, which enrolls students from more than 58 countries, is recognized as the first leadership elementary school in the nation, and 97 percent of the students are performing at or above their grade levels based on statewide assessments.

The goal of The Leader in Me™ process is to help develop essential life skills and characteristics students need to be successful in the 21st century. Its principles are integrated into the school’s core curriculum and focus on building self-confidence, decreasing discipline referrals, leadership training, improving academic performance, and raising levels of accountability and engagement among both parents and students.

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Fayette County Math Whizzes Show Talent at Competition

With pencils frantically figuring, fingers flying across calculators and brains firing with knowledge, students used all of their resources battling to become the winners of the 2010 Fayette County Elementary Math Bowl.

It took a total of 18 word problems to find the winning teams of the fourth grade bowl. Students fought hard to stay in the game, answering three tiebreaker questions beyond the regular 15 before winners were finally determined. There were no tiebreakers for fifth grade.

The 2010 winning teams for fourth grade are (first place) Inman, (second place) Cleveland and (third place) Kedron.

 

 (First Place) Inman: Alexis Harris, Keagen McCartha (alternate), Damien Robbins and Juwan Wesley with fourth grade teacher Sue Paggen.

(Second Place) Cleveland: Jason Hess, Adam Jamison, Jonathan Lewis and Achyuth Murthy (alternate) with fourth grade teacher Angela Spagnuolo (L) and Assistant Principal Angie Southers.
 

 

 

(Third Place) Kedron: Naseem Amini, Jolie Fouts (alternate), Bridgette Machemehl and Hayden Quale with Principal Mary Margaret Bivings (L) and fourth grade teacher Laura Griffies holding her daughter Susanna.







Fifth grade team winners include (first place) Kedron, (second place) Peeples and (third place) Oak Grove.

(First Place) Kedron: Jagger Barnes (alternate), Emilio De La Mora, Kevin Liow and Jiaxing Liu with Principal Mary Margaret Bivings (L) and fifth grade teacher Carla Zonneveld.

(Second Place) Peeples: Billy Porter, Joshua Tysor and Ryan Weyl with principal Erin Roberson (L) and fifth grade teacher Noel Strain. Not pictured, Haidyn Ogg (alternate).

 
 


(Third Place) Oak Grove: Abby Burke, Caroline Pickard, Carter Rogers and Haruka Yamada (alternate) with fifth grade teacher Carla Brown.






Students worked together in teams of three to solve the problems. Contestants qualified for the county tournament by winning their school-based math competitions.

“All of these students are already winners representing their schools and should be very proud of their accomplishments. We are very proud of them,” says Math Coordinator Lynn Ridgeway.

Each participant received a certificate of participation. Additionally, the first, second and third place winners were awarded a trophy to take back to their schools and each team member received a math book to help get a head start on the next grade level of math. Also, each first place team will have the name of their school engraved on the plaque of champions that is displayed in the math classroom at the LaFayette Educational Center.

This marked the 10th annual Fayette County Elementary Math Bowl featuring math teams from each of the school system’s 17 elementary schools.

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Near Sweep for Fayette County in Middle School Math Competition

Math students from FayetteCounty's middle schools barely missed sweeping the entire 2010 Regional Middle School Math Contest at Griffin RESA (Regional Educational Service Agency).

The school system had a first place winning team in all three divisions; entirely swept one division, fell one placement short of sweeping another, and brought home all three individual awards. Over 23 middle schools participated.

Here are the results:

Division I (Smaller Schools), Bennett’s Mill Middle placed first; Division II (Medium Schools) Fayette Middle placed first, Flat Rock Middle second, and Whitewater Middle third; Division III (Larger Schools) Rising Starr Middle placed first followed by J.C. Booth Middle in second.

Individual winners were Nathan Hung, J.C. Booth, first place; and Austin Palmer and Vivian Nguyen, both of Rising Starr, taking second and third place, respectively.

The Griffin RESA Middle School Math Contest is a regional competition among middle schools in the Griffin RESA region that includes the school systems of Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties.

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Fayette County Math Teacher Earns State Award

Her passion for math, development of creative lesson plans and commitment to continued professional growth has landed one Fayette teacher state recognition.

Jane Hannon, instructional support teacher for elementary mathematics, has been awarded the Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics award at the elementary level by the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Each year the organization gives the award to an elementary, middle and high school math teacher who demonstrates outstanding teaching abilities and a commitment to helping students better understand math.

Hannon, a 26-year veteran classroom teacher, is a member of the faculties at Fayetteville Intermediate, Hood Avenue Primary and Spring Hill Elementary where she leads discussions on instructional strategies, unit planning, examining student work and providing feedback, and analyzing data.

Hannon has led the way in the development and implementation of an acceleration model of instruction to help students master math concepts tested on the CRCT; has served as a team leader in developing unit plans, common pre and post unit tests and performance tasks for the Georgia Performance Standards K-5 mathematics curriculum; has been instrumental in assisting teachers in planning activities for math night at each of her schools; and even created a character called Num-Bee for a bi-weekly student TV show that focuses on critical math concepts.

“Jane’s lessons are interesting, filled with manipulatives, linking math to literature, and are always student centered. She consistently searches for more ways to make her lessons meaningful and authentic, to make her teaching more effective and to provide assistance to her colleagues,” says Lynn Ridgeway, coordinator of mathematics for Fayette County Schools.

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Fayette County Math Students Sweep Top Awards

Math students in Fayette’s middle schools swept first place awards in all three divisions of the 2009 Griffin RESA Middle School Math Contest.

The first place winners are Bennett’s Mill (Division I: Smaller Schools), Flat Rock Middle (Division II: Medium Schools) and Rising Starr Middle (Division III: Larger Schools).

In addition to the first place finishes, Whitewater Middle placed third in Division II and Logan Austin of Bennett’s Mill placed second in the overall individual winners category.

The Griffin RESA Middle School Math Contest is a regional competition among middle schools in the Griffin RESA region, which consists of Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties. Over 22 middle schools participated in this year’s competition.

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Public Invited to View Proposed Math Textbooks

The mathematics textbook adoption committee has selected materials to recommend for use in the Fayette County School System beginning with the 2009-2010 school year. The textbooks are for Math 3, Accelerated Math 3 and Math 4.

The committee’s recommendations were presented to the Fayette County Board of Education during its regular meeting on November 17. The proposed textbooks are on display for public review at the former East Fayette Elementary School on Booker Avenue in Fayetteville. The public can view the materials November 18-December 15 from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

The recommendation will be considered for approval at the December 15 board meeting at 7 p.m. at the Fayette County Board of Education.

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