The challenging 2019 UNC Math Contest drew many 7th-12th grade D'Evelyn students. The test is designed to "challenge students to exercise their creativity and ingenuity to solve problems in geometry, algebra, combinatorics, probability, logic and number theory."
It is a remarkable achievement by D'Evelyn students who passed the First Round and have been invited to attend the Final Round at the UNC campus in January. Of the 60 schools whose students have been invited to attend the Final Round, D'Evelyn has the highest number of students who passed the first challenging round. D'Evelyn students are set to demonstrate their exceptional math skills at the finals, which promises to be significantly more challenging. Congratulations to the following students who are the UNC Math Contest Invitees to the final round! 7th Grade: Kim Yeonwoo Merkert Kaci 8th Grade: Karuppasamy Aswaanth Kottenstette Charlotte Song Ming Wu Mia Yang Emily Ziemian Robby 9th Grade: Kim Jin Miller Shane Simpson Parker Vu Kaitlyn 10th Grade: Hall Jackson Li Karina Ng Samantha Rabinovich Gary Zhao Hellen 11th Grade: Aparicio Drew Christie Cole Groff Bailey Miller Evan Regmi Sulav 12th Grade: Brown Kylie Li Isaac Wootten Katie By Kari Newell As the D’Evelyn founding document states, “We must prepare students for roles as active, informed citizens, to do otherwise is to disenfranchise them of their birthright.” A key component of the social studies department is creating informed and engaged citizens. Students are expected to read daily from their textbooks and participate in class discussions to further their knowledge and understanding of historical and current events. As stated in the Founding Document, “An understanding of history, geography, economics, and government is fundamental to becoming an effective citizen. We believe each student must study world history as well as the history and government of the United States, in order to be able to understand and evaluate our place in the world.” D’Evelyn course standards require four years of social studies at the high school level including Eastern Civilization/Geography, Western Civilization, American History, American Government, and Economics. At the junior high level, students take a Geography and US History course to prepare them for their high school studies. Our department consists of three junior high teachers and six senior high teachers. We work closely throughout the year within our department to align our curriculum and hold our students to common and consistent high expectations. Furthermore, a cornerstone of the history department is the term paper students are required to write all four years of their high school experience. The term paper offers students the practice of learning to write a lengthy research-based paper in high school to further prepare them for writing and research in college. The term paper writing process includes many elements such as: notecards, an outline, an annotated bibliography, a first draft and a final draft to equip students with the necessary skills they will need in order to be successful in their future writing endeavors. The social studies department also believes in engaging, first-hand experience to expand students’ knowledge of the world. In June 2019, the 9th grade social studies team took a group of students to Japan where students immersed themselves in the rich culture and history of the country. In 2021, members of the department are planning a trip to Eastern Europe to visit the countries of Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. These experiences provide students an opportunity to gain insight into other countries' history, as well as their culture and current events. We appreciate the hard work of our students and look forward to another successful year at D’Evelyn. By Cory Ryckman, Math Department Manager As the old joke goes: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.” The Saxon series and D’Evelyn Math Department philosophy is based on the belief that students can master the concepts of math through daily practice. “Students” does not merely apply to those who were “born good at math.” As the D’Evelyn founding document states: “We believe that all students can succeed in mathematics, if taught carefully from effective texts.” All. Saxon is unique in that each lesson contains only a few problems illustrating the concept introduced in that lesson. The remaining problems, which become increasingly more difficult as the year progresses, are a review of all previously presented concepts. Each lesson is thus a cumulative review, and the problems require that the students develop fluency in problem solving to successfully complete the lessons. Lower levels focus on development of skills. As students get older, they start to encounter more open-ended problems that require higher level thinking. The amount of homework is directly related to what the Department and Saxon publishers feel is necessary for the average student to succeed in understanding the material. The philosophy is that the one who does the work does the learning. Teachers strive to communicate the idea of the day clearly but succinctly, so students have as much time to practice as possible. Some lessons take longer than others. As a student progresses, they will see the lessons transition from taking fifteen minutes to nearly the full fifty minutes of a period. Students are expected to authentically do the homework that they might master the material. Homework is 20% of the student’s grade in all math classes. Tests, quizzes, and the final comprise the other 80% of the grade. The higher weight given to the tests, in addition to their cumulative nature, is meant to ensure the students can demonstrate they know all the year’s material. Students need a C or better to have any chance of success in the next level. The department adheres to the policy that students who do not meet this standard need to repeat the course in order to shore up their foundation. Students above grade level in math should only continue on their accelerated path if they are earning an A or a B. Going forward, as a department we will continue to look for ways to improve instruction and assessment with an ever-changing world and student population while we try and maintain what is tried and true. We appreciate the hard work our students put into our classes and the parents’ efforts in holding the students accountable. |
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April 2023
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