Your Support Makes a Difference: Highlighting Donor Impact
At the time of this writing, Math Medic Foundation has completed a full 3 years of service toward our mission - Empowering students, teachers, and schools with resources that increase equitable access to high-quality mathematics education. We've been blessed with well over $250,000 in donations during that time. We've kept our overhead low, which has allowed us to use 70% of all donations (including 100% of donations from individuals) for student scholarships or grants for schools. Past writings have highlighted our student scholarship awardees here, here, and here. So, we're devoting this space to highlighting the impact of your support on grants for teachers and schools. Thank you for your support!
Community Events
Math Medic Foundation has awarded grants for several community math events, including funding Julia Robinson Math Festivals (JRMF). These festivals bring students, families, and community members together for fun, math-based, activities with the hopes of improving math identity for both students and families alike.
We recently funded a JRMF for the River Glen school community in San Jose, California. This quote from River Glen Community Health Care Manager Natasha Orozco sums up the impact of their event:
"At first a few of the older boys came in with their hoodies on over their heads looking distracted and disengaged. A few of these kiddos, I happen to know, navigate tough situations at home. Incarcerated parents, living with grandparents, non-english speaking parents, very low-income etc. Once the students started engaging with the 'math games' their entire demeanor changed. They lit up and fully immersed themselves in the activities. They became focused and intent on understanding and winning. I could see the wheels turning and it was awesome. In this way, math changed the moment for these kids and I am hoping that with these types of continued STEM-focused experiences, they will lean into their innate talents and interests and, hopefully, continue on a path that will shatter expected trajectories."
San Jose, CA, 2024
Benson, NC, 2024
Professional Development
High-quality professional development (PD) might be one of the most impactful ways to fulfill the Math Medic Foundation mission. At the time of this writing, we are hard at work developing a unique and specific PD experience for teachers. In the meantime, we are proud to fund PD opportunities that support teacher growth. So far, we've awarded grants for PD valued at over $10,000. One of these opportunities was AVID training for four teachers from Public Service Community School in Los Angeles, California. AVID's aim is to close the opportunity gap for students by giving teachers strategies to lift student voices. Public Service Community School serves a student body that is 99% economically disadvantaged. From Public Service Community School teacher Stacey Ani about the AVID training she and her math colleagues attended:
"Key takeaways were a much more concrete understanding of how to implement Critical Reading, Writing and Inquiry in the math classroom. AVID provided us with so many relevant and practical tools and activities to support writing across all content areas and also to increase discourse, collaboration, and interaction in our math classrooms."
Public Service Community School Math Teachers
Classroom Resources
We believe that providing equitable opportunities for students includes more than high-quality content and teaching strategies - classroom resources are critical as well. Therefore, Math Medic Foundation intentionally funds grants for classroom resources that will support student learning. Many teachers have recently begun implementing Building Thinking Classroom (BTC) practices. BTC practices meld nicely with Math Medic's free lessons, but they often require new classroom supplies. We've provided funds to many teachers for vertical whiteboards, dry erase markers, mobile tables, and more. In this way, we are supporting teachers who are providing equitable opportunities for students.
Clover High School, Clover, South Carolina
Moving Forward
Math Medic Foundation is laser-focused on our mission. We believe that supporting students, teachers, and schools on the opportunity side of the equation will lead to improvement on the outcomes side of the equation. We will continue to seek out and support opportunities that are likely to have a positive impact on equity in math education. We are grateful for your support!
Pete Grostic, Ph.D
Executive Director
Please join Math Medic Foundation in our mission to improve math outcomes for all. You can contact us to get involved or donate here.
03/10/2025