Folks in Maine and Alabama seek help of Math Committee — just not Pelham BOE

Two women in Maine wrote to Jennifer and Rich through the American Math Forum email list asking if we’d be videoing our Math Night—they even said they’d help underwrite the cost—because they want to hold a night of their own. You can read a profile of one of the woman, Anna Collins, in The Portland Press Herald here, The newspaper story chronicles Anna’s efforts to investigate the middle school math program (she has a Kindergartner!). Some of the steps and reactions will sound familiar to Pelham Math Committee fans, and some not, including the more professional response by the superintendent and board members, even when they don’t agree with Anna. Clearly they didn’t read Doug’s hurl up in Maine.

The next day, Jennifer got a call from a Board of Education member in Alabama desperate for help on which math textbook to choose. She had to vote the next day. It’s hard to say which is sadder, that that board member would need to reach out to a member of the Pelham Math Committee for help or that our own board would be so little interested in the expertise available here in our community.

This also appears on the PelhamMath.com website.