4/23/09
Velarde Elementary parent Margaret Campos said she was shocked when her daughter, Ana Lisa Campos, asked one school day to be woken up half-an-hour earlier than usual to practice math.
“My daughter was having trouble with math,” Margaret Campos said.
All that changed in January when an online computer game was introduced to students in elementary schools in the Española School District. “First in Math” was designed as an intervention tool for students to improve math proficiency. Velarde Principal Roberto Archuleta said he thinks the web game will play a vital role in improving students’ standardized test math scores.
District math coach Emmanuel Espinoza introduced the program at the beginning of the spring semester. Espinoza said students and classes compete with each other to see who can complete the most math problems.
Norma Lara’s 20 sixth-graders at San Juan Elementary have completed the most math problems in the state, according to the First in Math web site.
As of April 16, the class’ 639 hours of math practice translated into 230,358 math problems solved since January, according to the First in Math’s web site. Their efforts earned them the recognition from Suntex International Inc, the company running the online program.
Velarde Elementary fifth-grader Kaitlyn Romero completed more than 25,000 math programs making her the top fifth grade student in the state, Suntex Vice President Barbara Asteak said. Asteak said Romero competed against more than 3,000 students in the state.
Romero received a medal and an award certificate. Romero’s teacher Jimmy Lara said some of his students are skipping recess to play the game.
Margaret Campos said her daughter spends two hours a day playing the game.
Espinoza said the program has been used on a trial basis and the registration cost has been covered through a grant from New Mexico State University. Espinoza said the grant was enough to cover all the sixth grade classes in the District and a few lower grades.
He said a total of 1,680 students in the District have been playing the game. Espinoza said it would be up to the individual schools next year to determine how to pay for students to play the game.
“It’s really fun,” fifth grade student Gabrielle Archuleta said. “It challenges my brain.”
This story required a correction: It originally, and incorrectly, stated Norma Lara’s class was from Alcalde Elementary.