Schools
Students Raise Thousands Through Math-a-Thon Benefit
Competition yields $5,000 for children's research hospital
It might not always seem "cool," but math really does have its benefits. Just ask the 131 students at who recently participated in a Math-a-Thon competition—and raised $5,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
This week, 115 of the highest-ranking Math-a-Thon participants gathered in the school auditorium for an informal awards ceremony with math teacher Heather Sable, who coordinated the event. All students received certificates from St. Jude thanking them for their donation. Some students were also awarded other prizes, including t-shirts, Six Flags passes, and backpacks.
In April, the students competed against each other to solve a variety of mathematical equations in two 30-minute back-to-back contests. Each student chose his or her preferred difficulty. Out of those 131 students, 115 of them (approximately 85 percent) earned scores that were above average.
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“We held a Math-a-Thon only once before at TJ two years ago,” said Sable. “[But] it was done on a much smaller scale [than this year’s contest].”
The proceeds raised from this year’s Math-a-Thon were nearly double that of two years ago.
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“I am so proud of these students’ efforts in raising [so much] money for St. Jude,” said Sable. St. Jude, founded by entertainer Danny Thomas, is a pediatric treatment and research facility located in Tennessee that has been working to eradicate childhood cancers and other catastrophic diseases since opening its doors in 1962.
The students raised the $5,000 in only one month.
“A lot of the students were surprised to hear that we actually did reach our goal,” said Sable. “They were impressed, and happy to be a part of that effort.”
As the students came closer to their anticipated $5k goal, TJ principal Sherrie Galofaro at the annual school carnival to further bolster their fundraising efforts. “[The kids] were very excited to have their turn to dunk her,” Sable laughs.
The Level 1 winner of the Math-a-Thon was Mustafa Elfeky; Level 2 Joel Kinatukara; Level 3 Kateryna Karpova and Idan Michael; Level 4 Christina King and Inbar Tivon; Level 5 Rebecca Zaritsky; and Level 6 Amol Pasarkar and Roy Keren.
