Family Fun at RC Garnett Math Festival
February 7, 2024
There was cup stacking, building blocks, and card games on display at RC Garnett Demonstration School’s gym on Wednesday, January 31.
Based on the activities and the large crowd, one would have been forgiven for thinking the event was a family fun fair.
Instead, it was all about math, as the school hosted the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival (JRMF) which included learning sessions for classes during the day and a unique opportunity for families to try the activities in the evening.
The organization is a non-profit that “empowers communities to create magical math moments.”
One of the main goals of the festival was to make numeracy more engaging for students.
“I think it’s to promote joy in math and to help kids see that they can really have fun while they’re problem solving,” said Julia Henrey, Grade 5 teacher at RC Garnett. “There’s a whole variety of different problems to solve at all sorts of levels.”
The gym was set up with different tables, with math challenges facilitated by community volunteers, many of whom were students from neighbouring RE Mountain Secondary. Each table had either a math game, or hands-on task for students to complete with their families.
“There are some that are kinesthetic activities where kids have to jump from one square to another,” explained Henrey.
“There’s some that have tiny little beads that you have to put on different squares. Some that use pens and papers, there’s all different kinds of materials there, and all sorts of problems to solve,” she added.
After a quick walk through, you could see students working together and coaching each other, as well as parents assisting their children, and in some cases, children helping their parents with the challenges.
The concept of making math fun for students is not isolated to the school, as it’s part of the District’s broader goals when it comes to teaching numeracy.
“It’s about balanced numeracy, it’s not about just doing skill and drill things, it’s not just about problem solving, it’s about all of it.”
The festival was deemed a success with close to 500 people in attendance for the evening portion, which is a record according to the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival.
“You see great big smiles on everybody’s faces which is not a traditional math response,” commented Henrey.