Math

Harbour View Elementary fifth-graders put two and two together this school year, and ended up tying with a school in Missouri to take top honors in the MathFax national math competition. The program began in 1997; hundreds of schools compete for bragging rights in the annual competition, which serves several grades. Harbour View student Gino Zarrella tested the highest in the entire country this year; his classmate Jacob Rosenberg also scored high, and Tony Petelo placed in the top 15 this year.

The Huntington Beach Independent asked student math tutors at Dwyer Middle School, 'Why did you decide to become a math tutor and what have you enjoyed most about it?' "I wanted to start because it sounded fun and I like to help other people. I've enjoyed meeting a lot of people and being able to help them." Emily Davis, 12, Huntington Beach "I did this because I thought it sounded fun and I wanted to help kids out. I like it because I met my new friend Kelly; she's my student."

A class of second-grade musicians, standing behind 33 new electric keyboards, waved small wooden pointers as they chanted in unison, "This is the bass clef, I play with my left hand, in a deep voice." As their music teacher gave the students praise, Perry Elementary School's music room became a sanctuary full of orchestral sounds. "You guys are so awesome!" said music teacher Nelda Alvarez. "My musical geniuses!" The mid-morning music lesson is part of a new learning program recently introduced at Perry Elementary School.

While many middle school students dread the idea of going to math class, 20 seventh-graders at Dwyer Middle School not only enjoy math but have forfeited their elective class to help sixth-graders out with their math studies. Sixth-grade math teacher Debb Clay came up with a program called Students Teaching Arithmetic To Students. She started the program a few years ago, and it has since evolved into a daily peer-to-peer tutoring session with graduates from last year's advanced math class teaching students who may have struggled with math in fifth grade.

Paula Pisani HUNTINGTON BEACH -- When Huntington Beach High School students return from spring break next week, they most likely will be greeted by a new paint job on the math and science building. Now what members of the Painting the Way Campaign are asking for is someone who will repaint "Huntington Beach Home of the Oilers" back onto the building. Campaign coordinator Gail Pellicioni began raising funds in March for painting the school buildings.

Applying pratical mathematics Sixth-graders learn math meant for seventh-graders, and one uses it in activities. By Britney Barnes britney.barnes@latimes.com Soccer, sailing and Rubik's Cubes are just a few things where 12-year-old Jacob Rosenberg has discovered he can use math to gain the advantage. Angles help him shoot better, calculating opponents' scores during a sailing match lets him decide his next move, and the Rubik's Cube is just a bunch of different algorithms, he said.

Huntington Beach’s elementary schools kept their test scores significantly above county averages, with a spike upward in science results, while the Huntington Beach City School District inched upward across the board, according to results released this week. Results from this year’s Standardized Testing and Reporting, better known as STAR, program were released by the state last week. Only the raw test results are available now, but processed information based on these scores will be released over the weeks to come; that data is used by the state to judge academic progress of schools and districts, and it can affect their funding.

Percentage of students earning advanced or proficient rankings in 2004 standardized tests, by district and grade level: H.B. CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT -- Gr. English '03 Math '03 English '04 Math '04 2 55 56 77 73 3 58 47 65 68 4 65 66 68 69 5 57 67 51 63 6 59 62 47 54 7 65 59 51 49 8 50 60 90 86 (Algebra 1) -- O.V. SCHOOL DISTRICT -- Gr. English '03 Math '03 English '04 Math '04 2 48 49 70 72 3 47 41 54 61 4 52 55 59 60 5 51 56 48 52 6 49 48 49 46 7 52 51 57 52 8 48 48 90 84 (Algebra 1)

There is good news coming from our public school campuses, and it's not that a new school year is about to begin. Once again, our high school students outperformed their peers on statewide testing. The percentage of high school sophomores in Huntington Beach that passed the California High School Exit Exam in 2005 was 88% on the English test and 89% on the math, equal with the previous year, higher than in the rest of the county and a full 12% to 15% above state averages.

Along with school boards urging approval of new funds through Proposition 38, you'd think they would be frugal with the funds they already have — but not the Huntington Beach City School District board. For the last 18 months, they have expended or obligated $420,000 from reserves in their school operating fund to sweeten a sale of their district office and surrounding parkland at the closed LeBard Elementary School to potential developers. In addition, HBCSD is expected to ask the City Council to waive $90,000 now, and $600,000 later, in fees associated with their proposal to convert five acres of open parkland and baseball fields to a housing development.

Jesus Lara came to study at the Homework Club after it literally answered his cry. The Huntington Beach resident found himself floundering in the third grade, and not just because of his difficulty grasping math and science. At home after school, he tried to make his room a quiet sanctuary, but he found his studies constantly interrupted - by his younger brother pounding on the door, by the bustle in the kitchen and other clatter around the house. Finally, Jesus' frustration boiled over, and not inside the bedroom.

As part of their Advanced Placement calculus assignments, Marina High School seniors Aaron Drake, 17, and Griffin Mori-Tornheim, 17, had to bring complex mathematical formulas to life. So they built an upper body of a rapper with a microphone in his hand and dressed him with a T-shirt and sunglasses. It looked more like a dinosaur with a sunglasses because of its green, elongated face. The rapper resembled a picture of a man on a T-shirt both students wore when they played on a dodgeball team called Raptor Squad.

David Auburn's Tony Award-winning "Proof" is an intimate drama usually played out on a large stage. Before its current stint at the Huntington Beach Playhouse, it was presented on the spacious dimensions of South Coast Repertory and Golden West College. Familiar as it may be, and overflowing with incomprehensible mathematical equations, "Proof" nonetheless remains a powerful and involving theater piece, particularly when given a gripping rendition such as the one at Huntington Beach's Library Theater.

Name: Kathleen Iverson Age: 60 years Birthplace: Westminster (actually St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, there was no hospital closer then) Residence: 8441 Sterling Way,  Westminster Occupation: retired science and math teacher Education: bachelor's degree in chemistry, master's degree chemistry teaching certificate from Cal State Fullerton Experience as an educator: I taught at Westminster High School for more than 30 years.

Applying pratical mathematics Sixth-graders learn math meant for seventh-graders, and one uses it in activities. By Britney Barnes britney.barnes@latimes.com Soccer, sailing and Rubik's Cubes are just a few things where 12-year-old Jacob Rosenberg has discovered he can use math to gain the advantage. Angles help him shoot better, calculating opponents' scores during a sailing match lets him decide his next move, and the Rubik's Cube is just a bunch of different algorithms, he said.

Students all learn at different paces, leaving teachers the challenge of repeating information for some students while maintaining the interest of those who absorbed the information the first time. Many people acknowledge the special needs of students who struggle with learning, but those who learn quickly aren't always recognized to have special needs as well. Students who absorb and process information at an advanced level need an accelerated curriculum to keep them engaged and interested in school, which is exactly what the Ocean View School District's Gifted and Talented (GATE)

A group of fourth- and fifth-graders at Circle View Elementary School have been studying hard for an upcoming math competition. But unlike most children their age, these students have excelled past practicing basic math. The 10 students in the Gifted and Talented Education program have been tackling algebra and geometry since February in hopes of once again taking home the Olympic-sized medals. "We've won every year," said Jessica Haag, a fourth-grade GATE teacher. "Our students already learn at a higher level, but these kids go even beyond that."

Fourth- and fifth-grade girls will gather at the Pegasus School tonight to show that science and math aren’t just for boys. The school’s Explorers pilot program is hosting an interactive science event “Tinkering with Toys.” The program was created to get girls aged 9 to 11 involved in science, technology, engineering and math while preparing them with the skills needed in the real world. Kim McGrath, the director of fuel cell research at QuantumSphere Inc., and Nafisa Baker, a member of the group Women in Computer Science and an information and computer science student at UCI, will talk about their careers.