HK Students Make Math Simple

Students in Wendy Adamczyk's pre-calculus and calculus classes got more than a lesson in derivatives and integrals this year; they also learned what it's like to edit a book.

Adamczyk, who serves as the head of the math department at Haddam Killingworth High School, selected three juniors and four seniors to review a chapter on Algebra for the third edition of "Math Made Simple."

The tutorial-style book tackles the math concepts that form the foundations of secondary and higher education. The book, co-authored by a math teacher at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, includes chapters on essential math skills (pre-algebra), algebra I, geometry, algebra II, trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus and statistics. The book is filled with examples and exercises and is designed to supplement a student's textbook.

Published by TutaPoint, the book is popular among students and their parents who are seeking help and examples.

“With the third edition, we added quite a few new examples and exercises,” said Ryan Duques, co-founder at TutaPoint. “As part of the editing process I thought it would be fun and productive to turn the pages over to those we ultimately hope will be our audience.”

Over 20 high school classes throughout Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut participated in the project.

"The book is not a textbook," said Duques. "Instead it is a supplemental guide to high school math."

"I thought it was a great idea for a textbook author to ask for student opinion since they would be the ones utilizing the book (also good marketing, of course)," said Adamczyk.

The HK students were assigned to review a chapter on Algebra II.

"Students reviewed their sections individually and then we met as a group several times to compare notes and make our list of recommendations and errors. Yes, we found a few," explained Adamczyk. "Their comments and insight were wonderful. Suggestions from the perspective of high school students were thoughtful, appropriate, and quite helpful for the authors' needs.  I was impressed by the effort they put into this project.  They took it very seriously."

Participating in the project were juniors Rachel Roberts, Ana Tarbetsky, Christine Deldonna, and seniors Nick Powers, Chad Golembeski, Alex Simms, Nick Cerini.

Each student will receive their own copy of the book which includes an acknowledgement of each of their contributions.

"They were very excited to see their names in the book," Adamczyk said.

"I might even need to use this next year in college if I forget any of the basics," joked Nick Cerini.

“The students and their teachers really got into the process, and we compiled over 150 pages of notes and suggestions,” said Duques. “They even found a few errors.”