Propel East Charter School in Turtle Creek recently was named champion after it competed in a math competition against the other three Propel schools in the area.
The inaugural Propel Schools Math Cup Championship was part of a pilot program that took off when Think Through Math, a Pittsburgh-based national math education company, implemented a four-week contest between the four schools. Propel East competed against Propel schools in Pitcairn, Braddock Hills and McKeesport.
Propel Pitcairn and Propel McKeesport finished in second and third place, respectively.
“I wanted to have (the students) compete and get them more engaged in math. It was a nice fit for refocus after the holiday,” said Lisa Wise, motivation manager of Think Through Math.
During the competition, four schools completed more than 2,306 math lessons and more than 74,000 complex problems consisting of 876 hours of work through digital curriculum, Wise said.
Wise said she expects the competition to aid with preparation for in-class assignments and standardized tests.
“Kids are afraid to try math because it looks hard and they think they will fail,” said Propel East Principal Sandy Gough, who started her career at Propel as a math coach.
Gough referred to the winning students as “mathletes” — students that train and compete in math competition — as explained to the students that they were using “another tool or resource that can help” solve math problems.
Students were presented with a Silver Cup as a trophy, and a winner's banner to hang about the school, and individual certificates.
Students that excelled beyond achievement were presented with “Most Valuable Thinker” awards and received additional certificates along with a T-shirt.
“These students really dominated the competition,” Wise said.
Samson X Horne is a Tribune-Review staff writer. He can be reached at 412-320-7845 or shorne@tribweb.com.
