Davie, Florida (PRWEB) September 22, 2014
Recently, thirteen high school students from across the country volunteered to help develop the National Auto Math Challenge, an online quiz competition presented by the Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation (CKSF).
Known as the Auto Math Ambassadors, the students were chosen from those who participated in the Auto Math pilot quiz competition. The team of ambassadors included students from each high school grade and a home school student. During the summer, the ambassadors wrote and submitted three levels of math questions, with each level being more challenging for the progressive competition rounds. The project turned out to be a valuable experience for the student ambassadors and the Foundation.
“Working with CKSF has been the most amazing experience of my life,” says Emriel Williams, an ambassador from California. “Auto Math helps ensure that students can solve real world problems by using questions that are related to a concept that high school students can understand.”
High school senior, Jacqueline Elder, adds, “People are amazed that such an opportunity exists. They seem genuinely interested and often ask many questions. Many are even proud of my accomplishments.”
One goal of the National Auto Math Challenge is to create practical math questions that pertain to buying and maintaining a car, a topic of primary interest for most high school students. A second goal is to provide teachers with an easy way to have students apply classroom math skills that align with the Common Core Standards. Teachers in states that have not adopted Common Core Standards will also appreciate the practical approach of the program.
After submitting and reviewing each others’ questions, the ambassadors reached out to the writers of the high school math Common Core Standards asking for critiques on their work. The responses were mixed but encouraged and motivated the students to keep trying.
Daryl Hulce, CKSF president, enthusiastically expressed, “I was surprised by the number of students willing to help and at how responsible they were throughout the project. We want Auto Math to be a fun and interesting tool that helps achieve the goals of the Common Core Standards. We’re not sure we hit that nail on the head yet, but we will keep trying.”
CKSF’s writer, Lladeris Rodriguez, was also happy with the turnout of ambassadors, “It’s amazing to see a group of young teens care so much about helping other students in a subject area not very well liked by many students, including myself. I admire their motivation.”
The National Auto Math Challenge is free to all schools and students can register at the Foundation’s website http://www.cksf.org.
Beginning in October students can log into their account and take the initial round, known as “The Challenge Round, ” which has 10 questions covering topics such as saving to buy a car and calculating monthly insurance payments.
After the Challenge Round, the top scoring students from each school will move on to the State Championship Round, where the highest scoring individual is declared the winner and awarded a $250 scholarship. The top scoring school from each state is then advances to the final round, where the highest scoring team wins the National Championship Trophy.
Registration is now open at http://www.cksf.org.