Greenwich United Way Math Champions Pilot Program in Cos Cob School Builds Math Skills Through Educational Play

Greenwich United Way Math Champions Pilot Program in Cos Cob School Builds Math Skills Through Educational Play
 
This spring Greenwich United Way launched a pilot of Math Champions in Cos Cob School, a program to help elementary students achieve their academic benchmarks and goals. The Math Champions pilot delivers volunteer-led math support with engaging, educational games for Kindergarten through fifth grade.  
 
Math Champions is modeled on the very successful Reading Champions, the largest in-town volunteer driven early literacy program in partnership with Greenwich Public Schools for the past 13 years that has reached more than 4,000 elementary students. The Greenwich United Way plans to scale Math Champions to support math literacy progress with the same level of focused attention and individualized student support. The aim is to motivate progress and inspire greater student confidence.
 
“The addition of Math Champions to Cos Cob School has been a vision we have had for a few years,” said Gene Schmidt, Principal at Cos Cob School. “Partnering our math interventionists and our Math Champions volunteers provides much needed support for our students in math fluency. Watching both the adults and the high school student volunteers work with our students has been overwhelmingly positive and greatly benefits all participants.”
 
Volunteers are paired with students to play interactive math games that employ key concepts until mastery.  Small group math sessions are held weekly during and after school. Volunteers receive all training and materials from the Greenwich United Way. Currently, 40 Cos Cob School students are matched with 15 Math Champions volunteers from Greenwich Academy, Greenwich High School and Greenwich Public Schools parents. 
 
“I’ve had a wonderful experience as a Math Champions volunteer,” said Nicole Kwasniewski, a Cos Cob School parent. “The kids are eager to learn as well as connect on a personal level. Working in these small groups is great because it provides the opportunity to focus on each child’s math skills in a way that is fun and effective. It’s an absolute highlight of my week to see the excitement students have for participating in the Math Champions program.”
 
“It is proven that laying down solid early math foundations during elementary school years can pave the way for easier transitions to middle school. Pairing Cos Cob School with Math Champions is another way we can address an identified community need,” said David Rabin, CEO of Greenwich United Way. “We look forward to continue expanding math literacy support to more Greenwich Public Elementary School students in the years ahead.” 
 
Math Champions relies on the sponsorships of community partners; contact Jeremy Nappi at jnappi@greenwichunitedway.org for details. Interested volunteers for Math Champions or Reading Champions should visit www.greenwichunitedway.org or contact Cecile Meunier, Champions Coordinator, at cmeunier@GreenwichUnitedWay.org or 203-869-2221.
 
About Greenwich United Way
The Greenwich United Way (GUW) shares a name with approximately 1,200 other similar organizations across the nation, although the Greenwich, Connecticut division is a privately incorporated, locally governed, nonprofit agency. As a volunteer-driven organization, the Greenwich United Way exists to help identify and address the health, educational and self-sufficiency needs specific to its local community and to create and affect meaningful, lasting solutions. Through various fundraising efforts and on-going research, the organization is able to directly grant the funds necessary to accomplish this goal. The Greenwich United Way also invests in and conducts collaborative efforts to address broad-based community needs with partnering nonprofit agencies. For more information, visit https://greenwichunitedway.org, or follow us on Instagram and Facebook
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Submitted by Cos Cob, CT

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