Neighborhood News: Math Club wins national award

Competing against education teams from around the world, the Dale City Math Club School Improvement Team received the Gold NQEC Team Excellence Award at the 17th National Quality Education Conference held recently in Jacksonville.

The team, led by Dale City Elementary principal Cynthia Crowe-Miller, included teachers Kevin Weaver, Karen Moonan, and Ellen Mackinnon; Donna Stofko, Prince William County Schools elementary mathematics coordinator; and Laura Lovelace, PWCS data analyst.

After a preliminary round of judging during the summer, three teams were selected as finalists to present before a panel of judges and audience members at the NQEC Conference in October. The Dale City team took top honors by winning the Gold Award over a company in Texas and a school district in California.

"We were really surprised," said Mackinnon, who teaches fifth grade. "All three were really good projects."

Weaver, who teaches computer to all grade levels, said it was unique winning a national award in just his second year at the school.

The purpose of NQEC is to provide opportunities for teachers, administrators, support personnel and other stakeholders to use quality tools and examine continuous improvement principles that have been successfully used in education.

The Dale City Math Club School Improvement Team was recognized for planning and implementing innovative approaches to fully engage students in learning mathematics, particularly struggling students.

They did so by implementing more games that emphasized math skills as opposed to the traditional method of flashcards and drills, said Mackinnon. And much of what the children learned occurred during an after-school math club, where teachers like Mackinnon volunteered their time to help her students better understand the subject. As a result, math anxiety decreased, enthusiasm for learning greatly increased, and all sub-groups met the Adequate Yearly Progress requirements.

The title of the yearlong project was "The Dale City Math Club—a Small School with a BIG Change: Improving Math While Having Fun!"

"What an excellent example of blended mathematics at work in PWCS," said Steven L. Walts, Ph.D., Prince William County Public Schools superintendent.

Approximately, 50 to 60 students took advantage of this after-school club, which just started back up again this fall.

Struggling students improved so much last year that they were bragging about being part of an after-school math club to their school friends, said Mackinnon.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.