[Source: Douglas Daily Dispatch] — A summer Math Academy at Cochise College began on May 30 with 72 incoming ninth-graders from Douglas and Bisbee High Schools set on preparing for high school algebra and the AIMS test. Participants in the program are earning credits for their review of arithmetic and have worked with decimals, fractions, word problems, variables, and percentages while also taking courses in computers, art and physical education. Most of them will take algebra next year and geometry as sophomores before taking the AIMS test in the spring of their sophomore year. This is the fourth year of the Math Academy at the Douglas Campus. Past students have gone on to have significantly improved performance in mathematics classes in high school.
“There is nothing magical about the Math Academy,” said Chuck Hoyack, the dean of the Douglas Campus. “It is a combination of focusing on mathematics, offering a different learning environment for the students, a realization that mathematics is important to their academic future, and a great effort on the part of the students and their teachers in the academy.” [Note: to read the full article, click here.]