By CARL E. FEATHER - Staff Writer - cfeather@starbeacon.com
ASHTABULA — It was a bittersweet Family Math Night at Thurgood Marshall School March 19.
Approximately four dozen families came out for the event which was designed to help parents make learning math concepts fun at home. Billie Fusco, a third-grade teacher and Math Committee member, said the event mirrored the Family Reading Night, which drew 70 to 80 families earlier in the school year.
The Math Night featured three activities, each one 15 minutes long, that involved students and their parents. Activities were divided between the primary and elementary grades. Thirteen teachers worked to make the event possible.
Students worked on problems and games on the Smart Board, a white-board that allows interactivity with the projected image. In another classroom, a teacher read students a story about fractions, then invited the youngsters to practice fraction concepts with fruit and candy. In other classrooms, students were introduced to math games using a deck of cards, and were given a copy of the games and deck to take home with them.
At the end of the evening, math-related prizes were awarded and the families were treated to a light meal of hot dogs, drinks and snack foods.
Fusco said the event will be the last Family Math Night to be held at the neighborhood school, which is slated for closing at the end of this school year. She said the only other family event that might possibly be scheduled before the closing is a movie night. The last movie night held there was attended by nearly 150 persons.
“That’s going to be the end,” she said.
