March Mathness brings a numbers craze to Seaford Manor Elementary School

Numbers are cool at Seaford Manor Elementary School this month as March Mathness is creating a lot of buzz. The college basketball tournament-inspired math initiative is getting students excited to add, subtract, multiply and divide.

A bulletin board features two questions for every grade level. Students can submit their answers and the more they get right, the more each grade’s pot of gold is filled up. The questions will change every week throughout the month, with the student council helping tally up the correct responses.

Student council advisers Kristin Nelson and Lisa Perrone said that they selected questions from the GoMath program that are suitable for each grade level. At the end of March, the winning grade will be declared “Manor Mathematicians.” Students will receive medals and each class in that grade will also get a plaque.

“It’s interactive for everybody and it’s very motivating to keep doing math,” fifth grade student council member Meghan Feil said.

“It’s competitive and it gets the brain going,” added Jack Fagan. “Everyone can show off their math skills.”

Ms. Nelson said that the student council members are doing a great job promoting the math competition and getting their peers excited for the new questions each week.

“They are the student leaders of the school, so they are setting an example on the importance of math,” she said.

Manor students are also participating in a Math-A-Thon to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Students complete a math packet at home, specific to their grade level, while seeking donations for St. Jude. The Math-A-Thon is an annual tradition at Manor to help students improve their math knowledge while also helping others, and this year’s fundraising goal is $5,000.