24® Game/FIM News - A R C H I V E

Richmond Fifth-grader Achieves 1st Place Nationally,
and her Classmates’ Team Ranks 7th in U.S.A. in First In Math

PHILADELPHIA, PA—It was truly a festive day before Thanksgiving break for students at Richmond School in Central East Philadelphia. Fifth-grader, Enxhi Rrapi received a national award as she attained first place in the U.S.A. with the First In Math® Online Program on Wednesday, November 23. She competed against over 300,000 elementary and middle school students—outranking sixth, seventh and eighth-graders! Rrapi earned over 12,947 award stickers since September for solving increasingly more difficult math problems. Her classmates were also recognized as national standouts, as they are currently ranked 5th nationally out of 9300 teams. Rrapi and her classmates’ accomplishment made the 5 o’clock news! CBS Channel 3 News visited Richmond to capture the award event, and interview Rrapi and her teammates, along with her teacher Peggy Marie Savage and Principal, Dr. Anthony Ciampoli.

“Enxhi comes into school early every morning to work on First In Math,” stated Savage, Rrapi’s ESL teacher and First In Math Team Leader. “She came in one day and exclaimed she was finally #1 and her brother was #2!”

The program represents sibling rivalry at its best as Rrapi has surpassed her brother, Renajd, former Richmond student and one of the #1 national First In Math players last year. Renajd is a sixth-grade student at Masterman Middle School this year, and he is again, one of the top First In Math players in the nation.

"I am so excited for all of my students,” added Savage, “We are only a few thousand points behind the top team in the state and we are pumping ourselves up to become #1 by the end of November!”

The School District of Philadelphia has implemented the program in all of its elementary and middle schools for the third consecutive year through a grant from the National Science Foundation and Urban Systemic Program. District math instructors credit the program with increased student achievement on the PSSA (Pennsylvania School System of Assessment), as it has demonstrated regional results of double-digit increases in math scores among Philadelphia’s fifth-grade and eighth-grade students.

At a December press conference held at Spring Garden Elementary School in Philadelphia, School District CEO Paul Vallas and members of the School Reform Commission received a $500,000 grant from PECO. This generous donation is part of PECO’s “Energy for Education Partnership,” a campaign to support key initiatives that benefit Philadelphia schoolchildren: Leadership Development, Teacher Recruitment and a curriculum-based competition that will span all 10 Regions of the District. (Pictured above, left to right, are: Lisa Crutchfield, Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs for PECO; Dennis O’Brien, PECO President and CEO ; Tomas Hanna, Special Assistant to Paul Vallas and Dr. Elois Dupree, Spring Garden E.S. Principal.)

“I can’t think of a better way to help improve education in Philadelphia than with this donation,” said PECO President and CEO, Dennis O’Brien. A portion of PECO’s donation will sponsor the 24 Challenge® Math Program throughout the District for the next two years. The grant money will provide support for this event in 2400 district classrooms in grades 4-8 each year.

“What we want to do is elevate the importance of math as an area of academic rigor which is so critical for our children to master,” said Vallas, pictured below with 24® game inventor Robert Sun. “The academic failures that many inner city schools have experienced in the areas of math and science are as detrimental as their failures in language arts.” (To read the full press release, click here. To read highlights of comments made by Mr. Vallas at the press conference, click here.)

Richmond School 5-th Grader Renajd Rrapi
Ranked 2nd Nationally in FIM!

Mathematics is the "universal language" at Richmond Academics Plus School. Fifth-grader Renajd Rrapi (pictured here with his Principal, Dr. Anthony Ciampoli and his sister Enxhi) and his ESL (English as Second Language) classroom are both currently ranked 2nd in the nation in the First In Math® Online Program among 5th grade teams.

Georgetown Day School Shows Support for 24!

Back row, left to right: Holly Balshem-3rd grade; Kathrin Bachrack-3rd grade; Mary Lou Berres-Lower School Math Coordinator. Front row, left to right: Susan Loutoo-5th grade; Nicole Smith Jones-5th grade.

FIM Spurs Success in Philadelphia School District!

The School District of Philadelphia began using the First In Math® online program in more than 2,600 third- through eighth-grade classrooms throughout the district during the 2003-2004 school year. The first-year implementation of the program was a resounding success, with 2004 Pennsylvania State Standard Assessment (PSSA) results showing a significant increase in overall performance in math. (To read the full article, including school case studies and 2003-2004 proficiency statistics, click here . To download a printable document in PDF format, click here.)

Bethlehem Area School District Ranked Nationally
In the First In Math® Program

BETHLEHEM, PA—Students at Fountain Hill Elementary School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, are excited about multiplication, fractions and even algebra! Michelle Sames' fifth grade class is currently ranked third in the nation among other fifth-graders and Shawn Collier's third grade class is ranked first among other third-graders! In November, the school and the First In Math® Program were the subject of a feature article in the Lehigh Valley's Express-Times newspaper, written by Precious Petty.

Principal of Fountain Hill Elementary, Joseph Rahs, is very enthusiastic about his school's achievement in the First In Math Program. "Our students are proud of their accomplishments in the program and are eager to share with their peers, teachers and others how well they are performing," states Rahs. The First In Math Program, which is the online version of the popular "24® game," developed by Suntex International of Easton, Pa., was piloted at Fountain Hill Elementary through a grant from Lehigh University last year. The school’s fourth grade students embraced the program and demonstrated strong math skills. Many of the students who excelled in the program are now succeeding again as current fifth graders.

At nearby Farmersville Elementary, Alexa Curto of Mr. Edward Yenolevich's fifth grade class is currently ranked number one in the nation across ALL grades! "Everything she does, she does to a T," says Edward Yenolevich, Curto's teacher. Yenolevich is very proud of Curto's accomplishment and is amazed about how many hours Curto and his other students spend mastering their math skills in the online program.

Yenolevich explains he uses a feature on the website to track how much time students spend on the site playing the various activities. "I am seeing kids, who normally are not excited about math, volunteering to not go out for recess and actually stay in and go on the computer, which is mind boggling," says Yenolevich. "They are having fun in the competition, seeing their scores against their classmates, as well as people in the state and nationally. There isn't competition amongst the children here as far as rivalry or nasty competition, it's friendly competition and they are spurring each other on."

Principal Pamela Hubbard and FIM Team Leader Edward Yenlovich watch as Alexa (seated) and her classmates discuss First in Math strategy. In their 5th grade category, Alexa’s “team” is ranked fourth nationally in First in Math, closely trailing another 5th grade class at Fountain Hill Elementary, which is currently ranked third. "All of the students are extremely excited about it [First In Math], as all of the teachers and myself are," says principal Hubbard. "When I learned about the First In Math program, I was one of the schools that asked if I could have it, right up front." Farmersville Elementary received First In Math through funding from a federal grant entitled Enhancing Education Through Technology.