Lazy summer days ended early for many middle school students this summer as TAMIU hosted the first Geometry Summer Seminar for the Title V Educational Excellence Project (EEP). Instead of lounging around the house or spending endless hours playing video games, 40 eighth grade students from various schools were challenged with many different constructional projects that increased their mathematical skills.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, this program worked exclusively with both TAMIU and LCC to provide the highest educational experience for students.
Title V EEP was very enthusiastic to establish their summer seminar at TAMIU because it allowed the students to experience college life firsthand. The students were immersed in a culturally diverse environment that enabled them to relate to a higher level of learning. These students were facilitated with the state-of-the-art Title V Technology and Enrichment in Mathematics (TEMA) Computer Lab and received the undivided attention from experienced tutors and instructors.
For four weeks, these students built straw towers, dabbled with origami projects and even assembled bridges. On one July morning, these students gathered around the TAMIU courtyard and deliberately, while testing the weight efficiency, broke their bridges in an excited and cheerful scene.
Students were able to solve problems in a technologically enhanced classroom equipped with all the necessary elements for math, design and pedagogical tasks. The seminar emphasized the use of technology and applied it to the learning of different concepts in mathematics which assessed each student’s different needs.
Providing Hispanic and low-income students with the abilities to engage and strive for higher education, the Title V grant was awarded to both TAMIU and LCC. The Title V grant is dedicated to providing families with educational resources towards higher learning awareness. For the next three years, Title V will continue to develop programs that will benefit today’s youth. Future programs include seminars for the SATs and THEA exams.
For both students and teachers, the summer seminar proved to be “very successful,” stated Pablo David Morales, Math Community Outreach Coordinator.
For more information about the Title V Educational Excellence Project or applications, visit www.tamiu.edu/titleVmath or contact Morales at pablo.morales@laredo.edu.