Grant Supports Math Program for Minority High School Students

The 3M Foundation has awarded Ithaca College a three-year, $50,000 Vision grant to support a new TEAM (technology, empowerment, and modeling) program. Designed to help bridge the gap between basic and advanced high school math classes for minority students, TEAM combines an intensive summer honors program held at the College with follow-up mentoring during the students' academic year. Minority students entering their senior year of high school will be selected from the Ithaca City School District and the Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem, with which the College has formed a partnership. Minority students from other upstate schools will also be selected, as program space permits.

In July students from Ithaca High School, Elmira High School, and the Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem took part in a computer programming course using Legos to build robots. The course, taught by associate professor of computer science Pat Woodworth, is a component of a new math program for minority high school students. The program is supported by a Vision grant from the 3M Foundation.

The TEAM program was among only three Vision grants awarded nationally from a total of 21 proposals. The 3M Foundation gives the grants annually to private colleges to provide start-up funding for new academic programs that bring students and faculty together while connecting learning to the community.

"Summer enrichment opportunities are important to our mission of helping students prepare themselves for college-level work," says Gregory Hodge, principal of the Frederick Douglass Academy. "In addition, this program gives our students an opportunity to experience life on a residential college campus and to work with other students from different ethnic and economic backgrounds."

The program, which began this past summer, shows students how to use a graphing calculator and various calculus functions to graph and plot data and then make predictions based on those findings. The students also use Legos to build robots with moving parts and then write programs to control the way the parts move. In addition, there are exercises in problem solving, cooperation, and team building. Follow-up activities during the academic year will include mentoring with students from the College who are themselves studying mathematics and math education.

TEAM's immediate goal is to increase the high school students' interest and access to calculus and other forms of high-level math. Its long-term goal is to lead students to careers in mathematics and computer science.

"Participating students will be immersed in a mathematical experience probably different from anything they have seen or done before," says Martin Sternstein, professor of mathematics and the TEAM program director. "They will see - many of them for the first time - that they can 'do' mathematics. They'll begin to appreciate its power, beauty, and accessibility, and discover that mathematics expands their understanding of the world."

In addition to Sternstein, the participating faculty members in the TEAM project are Elizabeth Griffin, associate professor of therapeutic recreation and leisure services; and Patricia Woodworth, associate professor of computer science.

The 3M Foundation is funded annually by 3M. Now in its 13th year, the Vision grant program has awarded $2.2 million to 62 private colleges. "Innovation, respect for new ideas, and the willingness to take risks are the cornerstones of 3M culture," says Richard E. Hanson, director of 3M community affairs. "The Vision program mirrors this philosophy."