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Batavia kids celebrate wins in Khan Academy math contest

Waving pink pompons, Rotolo Middle School students cheered for classmates' achievements Wednesday.

The points accumulated, and trophies awarded, weren't for a basketball or volleyball team, however.

The sixth grade - and some seventh- and eighth-graders - were celebrating the school being at the top of the leader boards for much of the Khan Academy's Chicago-area LearnStorm online mathematics contest.

About 100,000 students at roughly 1,000 schools took part. Students solved problems and mastered concepts at their own pace through the online academy. Some class time was set aside for it, but students were also encouraged to work on it at home.

Students and, by extension, the school, earned points for mastery and for "hustle," or sticking with things that challenged them. Eighth-grader Peyton Imes of Batavia said her perseverance improved, which will help her achieve a career goal. "I love mathematics," she said. "I want to be a math teacher."

Caroline Pritchard, on the adoption team for Khan, said she was amazed by Rotolo when she checked the leader boards each week.

"Who are these people? They are going crazy with mathematics," she told the crowd.

The contest demonstrated "the power of 'yet,' " and having a "growth mindset," she said. That means that while acknowledging you can't do something right now, such as understand long division, it doesn't mean you never will, if you continue to work at it.

LearnStorm contests were also conducted for the San Francisco area, Idaho and Ireland.

Carol Dopke, mathematics divisional leader for Rotolo, said the growth mindset piece appealed to teachers who are trying to instill that in students. Students enjoyed the autonomy of the contest, which allowed them to explore concepts in more depth. "They like the points, too," Dopke said, as students could compare how they ranked in their school and in the overall contest.

Khan Academy is a nonprofit online learning venture, supported in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Hyatt was a major sponsor of the contest.

  Caroline Pritchard of Khan Academy talks to students Wednesday at Rotolo Middle School as they were honored for being atop the Chicagoland LearnStorm mathematics contest leader boards. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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