High-volume start at Crazy 8 Math Club
Fourth-grader Tegan Cavanaugh and her classmates discover a whistling sound while blowing air across the top of a milkshake straw. Press photos by Kate Hayden
Third-grade sisters Daffny and Jihan Gonzales make cuts to construct a pan flute out of milkshake straws.
Teacher Diane Sande demonstrates making a note out of a milkshake straw for third- and fourth-graders.
Fourth-grader Leah Dettmer tests how the air from her simple "flute" impacts a small cup of water.
Diane Sande's STEM Saturdays students designed their own racing vehicles using all recycled materials on Sept. 16. Contributed photo
By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com
Third- and fourth-graders at Lincoln Elementary were making a very different kind of noise in the classroom on Monday afternoon.
The students were busy testing sounds and assembling their own pan flutes as a part of the new Crazy 8 Math Club, founded by Diane Sande and lead with assistance from Melinda Masters, Ann Prichard and Sarah Grabowski.
The first eight-week program had 36 students sign up for one of two after-school class times this semester, Sande said.
Next semester the students can move up a level for the next eight weeks. The 15 students currently on a waiting list will be able to join the Crazy 8 Math Club at that time, exploring all the initial projects students are working on now.
The club is a national program that offers all activities to schools for free, provided an enthusiastic coach can recruit at least 12 students interested in the program, according to organizers at the Bedtime Math Foundation.
Sande said she was introduced to the program online before starting Charles City’s first chapter at Lincoln Elementary School.
The program isn’t the only enrichment activity Sande is helping to offer students. Her STEM Saturdays for third- and fourth-grade girls have recently received a $1,000 Excellence in Education Foundation grant, and a $2,000 VOYA grant to expand on the engineering program for girls.
September’s activity, which was sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), asked girls to design a race car using recycled materials.
STEM Saturdays has five more activities scheduled for October, November, February, March and April. For more information on topics and class dates, contact Sande at dsande@charles-city.k12.ia.us.
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