Human Calculators At Irvington Schools Raise Money For UNICEF

IRVINGTON, NY — Having logged onto their computers, first- through fifth-grade students at Dows Lane Elementary School and Main Street School competed in real-time games of mental arithmetic against peers from around the world recently.

“The purpose of having our students participate in World Maths Day was to build excitement and knowledge of math facts by being a part of a global event,” said math coach Christine Rosner, who helped organize the events at both schools. “World Maths Day is about uniting people from around the world through numbers and fluency activities.”

Playing 60-second math fact games, the students tried to get as many answers correct as possible so they could earn points to support the United Nations Children’s Fund’s educational programs, according to a spokesman. They could play an unlimited number of games, but only the first 20 games counted toward the competition.

“Every time an Irvington student answered a math fact correctly a ‘UNICEF point’ was earned, and these points get turned into cash to help support UNICEF’s projects,” Rosner said. “Our students practiced their math facts and built their fluency skills through playing live games with other students their age from around the world.”

Second-grade teacher Philip Levine said that one of his students answered more than 13,000 questions and played against children from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and Uganda. He added that the student loved the World Maths Day experience and felt like a human calculator by the end of the day.

“It was a truly unique world event and a fantastic way to promote numeracy within our schools,” Main Street School Principal Joyce Chapnick said. “Past results have shown that students make significant improvements in their mental arithmetic skills and have fun in the process.”

During last year’s event, more than 5 million students from 240 countries correctly answered millions of mathematics questions to earn points to support UNICEF’s educational programs.

For more information about the global online event, visit www.worldmathsday.com.

Photo caption: Irvington Union Free School District students participating in World Maths Day. Photo credit: Irvington Union Free School District.