June 30, 1995 Contact: Robert Irion (408/459-2495)

MONTEREY BAY AREA MATHEMATICS PROJECT MARKS TENTH YEAR OF HELPING LOCAL TEACHERS TEACH

Three-week institute at UC Santa Cruz to run July 10-27

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Balancing the checkbook. Remodeling the house. Playing the stock market. Understanding science and technology. It all adds up to a lot of math, and woe to those who can't keep up. But thanks to teachers from the Monterey Bay Area Mathematics Project, area students are better equipped to handle these challenges--and less intimidated by a subject that others dread.

Now in its tenth year, the project helps teachers bring math to life for their charges. Those who enroll are encouraged to toss their dull lessons and rote exercises in favor of hands-on activities that excite students and prompt them to realize that math is a vital part of their world. To date, more than 200 teachers from the counties of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz have completed the project, which features a three-week summer institute at UC Santa Cruz.

"Teachers need to help students develop their thinking and problem-solving skills, not just do bookkeeping and accounting," says Edward Migliore, the project's lead instructor and a lecturer in mathematics at both UCSC and Monterey Peninsula College. "By the end of each institute, we see that teachers come away with a sense of confidence to take back to the classroom, instead of fear and aversion."

This year, 34 teachers of students in grades K-8 will attend the institute, set for July 10-27. They also will participate in follow-up events during the year. A team of instructors from area schools and community colleges--including veterans of previous institutes--will join Migliore to teach dynamic new approaches to working with numbers, solving problems, logic, probability and statistics, and other topics. Each day, teachers will gather by grade level to discuss how to use the lessons in their classrooms and to swap ideas on getting the most out of limited time and supplies.

Bruce Cooperstein and Solomon Friedberg, professors of mathematics at UCSC, are the project's coprincipal investigators. It is part of the California Mathematics Project, which sponsors institutes on numerous UC and California State University campuses.

Editor's note: Please see the attached page for a list of teachers from schools in your area. The summer institute runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday through Thursday of each week at the Crown College Library, UCSC campus. To arrange a visit, call (408) 459- 4369 or (408) 459-2495.

Monterey Bay Area Mathematics Project Tenth summer institute, July 10-27, UC Santa Cruz

1995-96 participants

Monterey County

Greenfield Union School District: Greenfield Elementary School: Penny Hamisch,

4th-6th; Lynn Mooney, 4th

King City Union School District: San Lorenzo Middle School: Jane Miller, 6th;

Debra Patterson, 7th

Santa Cruz County Live Oak Elementary School District: Del Mar Middle School: Linda Carman, 7th-8th;

Jeff Eckert, 6th-8th

Pajaro Valley Unified School District:

Alianza Elementary School: Mary Jane Hills, 4th;

Leslie Ann Smith, 6th H. A. Hyde Elementary School: Eileen Drabinski, 4th Hall District Elementary School: Jan Vallotton, 4th MacQuiddy Elementary School: Jeri Ann Striegel,

5th-6th; Judy Viertel, 1st-2nd Salsipuedes Elementary School: Debra Davidson, K;

Joanne Katzen, 2nd-3rd; Susan Kerr, K;

Darlene Wilcox, K

Private School: Gateway Elementary School: Patricia Skowrup, 2nd

San Lorenzo Valley Unified School Dist.: Jerome Middle School: Kristen Owen, 6th Redwood Elementary School: Judy Billings, 6th;

Debra Boivin-Wilki, 5th; Pat Dussel, 4th San Lorenzo Elementary School: Paula Kern, 3rd

Santa Cruz City School District: Branciforte Junior High School: Beth Landry, 7th-8th;

Barbara Sheen, 7th-8th DeLaveaga School: Marsha Isaacson, 1st-3rd;

Cindy Morley, 6th; Alison Woolpert, 4th Mission Hill Junior High School: Gregory Knopf,

7th-8th; Kristine North, 7th-8th Quail Hollow Elementary School: Pat Huntsinger, 2nd Westlake Elementary School: Carolyn Heier, 2nd-3rd

Soquel Union Elementary School District: Capitola Elementary School: Shirley Klempnauer, 3rd;

Joanne Rude, 2nd-3rd New Brighton Middle School: Sherrie Ebyam, 6th-7th

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