About IMACS

Plantation initiative gives children boost

A Plantation learning center that usually focuses on math prodigies decided to continue a program it started last year to help struggling math students.

Called Boosted Learning for Achievement on Standardized Tests, or BLAST, the program is open to second-graders who score below the 70th percentile on standardized tests. Scores from last year's 23 participants improved nearly 16 percent on average, so the center decided to do it again.

"The test results from the students who participated in our pilot program ... were spectacular," Terry Kaufman, president of the Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, said in an e-mail.

The program was created after center founder Burt Kaufman's retirement. He built the center an the academic foundation of logic and critical-thinking skills. Since its creation in 1993, the center has taught gifted mathematicians who often are academically years ahead, like middle school students doing college-level computer programming.

Burt Kaufman first used the center's curriculum in public schools to teach gifted math students, but the district cut it after more than a decade to save money. The center has formed partnerships with private schools and offers courses for home-schooled students. BLAST is the next evolution of Kaufman's work.

Kaufman died in July after a 4-year battle with cancer. He was 74.

"It's been a difficult time for all of us, but knowing that he lived his dream and that future generations will benefit from his life's work is somewhat comforting," Terry Kaufman said.

Last year, the center evolved and created the program for struggling students. By working in small groups, center officials said, students were able to develop the self-discipline and confidence needed to excel.

There will be some tweaks to this year's program, which will begin Sept. 24. Instead of meeting twice a week for about a month, students will meet once a week for just more than two months. And this year, parents must pay. The program costs $349.

Parents who want their children to participate must attend a free demonstration class with their son or daughter. Parents must also bring a copy of the student's first-grade Stanford Achievement Test results. Classes will be held at 4p.m, today and 10:30 a.m. Saaturday in Weston at 2585 Glades Circle, then in Coconut Creek, 7600 Lyons Road, at 1 p.m. Saturday. Call the center at 954-791-2333 or see www.imacs.org.

Students with a knack for computer programming and robotics can sharpen their skills at the Institute for Mathematics & Computer Science.

Math, reading, science and history are all part of the curriculum Paula Lebert uses to home school her children.

But the Lauderhill mother of three admits there are some lessons she can't teach.

Among them: computer programming.

For that, Lebert relies on the Institute for Mathematics & Computer Science, an educational research institute that teaches mathematical concepts and logic to students in elementary and secondary school.

Jana Lebert, 7, loves attending the computer enrichment and virtual robotics classes.

On Wednesday, Jana spent an hour at IMACS's Plantation campus, where she worked on a computer program that required she maneuver a robot using different mathematical equations.

"When I figure something out, I feel so proud of myself," she said. "It's a challenge, and I did it."

New classes at the institute will begin next week, including one during the day for home schooled children. Other classes are scheduled after regular school hours.

Laura Millward said she plans to enroll her 9-year-old son, Chad, in the computer and robotics class.

The lessons taught by the institute's instructors - many of whom are mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers, technical editors, graphics designers, and programmers - supplement the math skills Millward teaches at her Boca Raton home.

"It's an academic challenge," she said. "And it's something that I can't teach."

During the one-hour class, students work on the computer in a virtual robotics laboratory. The goal is to make robots move and hit specified targets, all of which is done using mathematical calculations.

Workbooks guide students to write computer programs that create specific designs, including a variety of shapes.

The nontraditional teaching method is what keeps students interested, said IMACS director Ted Sweet.

"We're not doing the same thing they're doing in school that is boring to them," he said. We're not throwing work sheets with 100 math questions in front of them. We're making it fun."

IF YOU WANT CLASSES

Computer enrichment and virtual robotics classes begin next week at the Institute for Mathematics & Computer Science. The eight-week classes, held at IMACS campuses throughout Broward, are open to students in grades 3 to 8.

The class is open to home schooled students, one hour a week, for $149. A two-hour class is also offered once a week, after school, for $470. For information, call 954-791-2333 or visit www.imacs.org.

For approximately 30 students, there was little fear of poison ivy or being eaten by a bear at summer camp last week. But the technology camp at Trinity Academy was a good opportunity to learn a thing or two.

The camp, sponsored by the Florida-based Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, offered a week of such activities as computer skills and virtual robotics.

"This event is a great opportunity for children to learn from hands-on experience and innovative technologies," said Robert Littlejohn, Trinity Academy's headmaster. "We strive to challenge each student, and the IMACS summer camp is a great asset to achieving this goal."

Making lanyards or paddling a canoe were not on the schedule. But Michael Lamson, 9, learned how to make an electric circuit. Kayla Dunston, 11, and Braxton Barbour, 10, learned logic puzzles. And Dean Graham, 12, learned how an electromagnet works.

Not as much fun as toasting marshmallows, perhaps, but good stuff to know.

The camp is open to rising third- through eighth-graders in Wake County. Two more week-long sessions are available this summer, starting July 30 and Aug. 6. For more information, call 919-786-0246 or visit www.imacs.org.

Plantation One question often asked of those who run a math program for gifted children: If it's so great, why don't you do it for everybody?

Now, on the heels of the founder's retirement, the Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, a learning center that produces talented mathematicians like some schools produce star athletes, has created a pilot program to help struggling students.

Twice a week for about a month, 8-year-olds have sat in the center's pastel blue rooms to sharpen their multiplication skills and gain confidence in their abilities. The program, started in February and called Boosted Learning for Achievement on Standardized Tests, or BLAST, is free and open to second-grade students who score between the 40th and 70th percentile on standardized tests.

At first glance, the center's 800 traditional kindergarten through 12th grade students and the 23 BLAST students seem to learn drastically different things. For example, fourth- and fifth-graders: modular arithmetic. BLAST: even and odd numbers. But the academic foundation is the same: logic and critical thinking skills.

"We're doing more than simply the content of the lesson," said Ed Martin, who co-founded the center with Burt Kaufman in 1993. "It's training the child's mind, and that has a huge effect."

IMACS co-founder Burt Kaufman.

Kaufman, 74, retired in November because of cancer-related health issues.

The idea for what would become the center's curriculum started in 1960. Kaufman was enrolled in a summer class for practicing teachers and gifted high school students at the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a master's degree.

"The kids were quantum leaps ahead of the teachers," Martin said. "He was embarrassed."

Kaufman moved to Broward County in 1963 and helped Nova High School establish its math program, re-creating the summer class curriculum. Over the next two decades, he moved to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the St. Louis area public schools, and refined the program.

He returned to Broward in 1981, bringing the program to public schools, but the district cut it 12 years later to save money. So Kaufman, his son Terry, Martin and their partner Iain Ferguson saved the program by going private and charging $30 an hour.

BLAST, Terry Kaufman said, seemed like the natural next step. In the 14 years since opening the center, he said numerous parents walked through the doors wondering if it might give struggling students a boost. With no remedial programs, they were turned away.

"Think about how many times you hear: `I was great in math until ...,'" said Ted Sweet, 35, who graduated from the program in 1989 when it was in public schools. "What that means is there is a potential there that didn't get filled."

Students in BLAST might never correct their college math instructors as did Sweet, who left AT&T labs and academia in 1998 to work with the center. Still, by working in small groups, center officials say the second-graders will develop the self-discipline and confidence to excel.

The proof, Terry Kaufman said, is in the proverbial pudding. Instructors spent weeks last school year working with students at Downtown Academy of Technology & Arts, a Fort Lauderdale charter middle school that went from an F to A school that year.

This year, the center wanted to help struggling students before they got to middle school. Center officials are awaiting BLAST students' new test scores before scheduling the next class.

"Younger kids," Kaufman said, "are more open and not as beaten down by the system."

Akilah Johnson can be reached at akjohnson@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4527.

On a recent Friday, 12 math-challenged second-graders at an unusual school in Plantation were eagerly jumping up and down in their seats to solve math problems.

One by one, the children deliberated at the blackboard in Brandi Parsell's class, trying to decide whether a circle, square or triangle should be placed on the board next to solve a puzzle. A correct answer brought screams of delight from triumphant students.

The children with special needs are being served in a free program at the Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, an independent teaching and educational research facility normally geared to gifted and accelerated students in elementary and secondary school.

To recruit the students, who come from all over Broward, Parsell said, "We sent fliers to public schools. All the students scored in the 40th to 70th percentile on the Stanford Achievement Test. They come twice a week for an hour and 15 minutes."

Parsell, vice president of the affiliate program at IMACS, was herself a student of the program before becoming an eighth-grade and high-school math teacher. She knows the program for these struggling second-graders works because of experience.

"Last year we were asked by a charter middle school, the Downtown Academy of Technology and Arts in Fort Lauderdale, to teach classes there because scores on the FCAT were 'F,' " she said. "The scores improved to an 'A' grade within one year."

Parsell is hopeful about what mastering math can do for the children.

NO ANTIPATHY

"They're still too young to form a real solid attitude or hatred of math," she said. "If they're taught well, they learn thinking, logic and reasoning. They build confidence, which translates to every part of their lives. They become better problem solvers, more independent and can think on their feet."

Parents have noticed the changes in their kids and told the IMACS staff.

"They tell me they can't believe how the attitudes of their kids have changed," said Parsell. "This is in addition to their getting higher test scores."

What's the secret of the teaching method?

"We use a proprietary curriculum in development over 40 years," said Parsell, who hopes to offer the program to needy children in more grade levels this fall. "The lessons are carefully scripted."

"We use very advanced concepts incorporated in games or puzzles. The children don't even realize they're learning. The neat thing is how fun it is," she said. "Girls especially, when they're young, they get intimidated. In class I've seen great things from them."

STEREOTYPES PERSIST

"Old gender stereotypes about girls not wanting to appear smarter than boys still apply," said Parsell.

"That's why it is important to get them enrolled as young as possible, to counteract any stereotype, so they don't have to be afraid of being good at math," she said.

For information about programs at IMACS, call 954-791-2333 or visit www.imacs.org.