Jan. 9, 2025
Inspiring Confidence Through Numbers
Discover how Marguerite McClam, a passionate advocate for mathematics education and leader of the South Carolina Chapter of Math Counts, is inspiring the next generation of engineers and problem-solvers. Marguerite joins us to share her journey and insights on the transformative power of math education. With over 41 years of dedication to improving mathematics proficiency in the United States, Math Counts provides essential resources to students ranging from the most struggling sixth graders to advanced eighth graders, free of charge. Hear about how this initiative not only strengthens math skills but also builds confidence and perseverance, helping students overcome their fears and excel academically.
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Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company.
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We are here at the South Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics with Marguerite McClam of the National Society of Professional Engineers.
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She is also the leader of the South Carolina Chapter of Math Counts.
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Welcome, Marguerite.
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Thank you for having us here today.
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Yes, we're so happy to have you, and can you tell us some of what you do associated with math counts?
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As a professional engineer, we see the need for math being improved in our country and we started math counts 41 years ago to improve the mathematics for the United States citizens Every day.
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Math is something we use as professional engineers to do our job and if we don't improve math for the students that are coming up, they're not prepared to enter the engineering field in college.
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So our goal is to improve math starting with the weakest sixth grader to the strongest eighth grader, providing them with a club program which is absolutely free.
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We register, we send you the materials.
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All you have to have is four kids who are willing to participate that are middle school age.
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They have to meet so many times a month.
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They kind of set their own guidelines.
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They have prizes for themselves, they're just competing against themselves.
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But there's material for the weakest sixth grader up to the most advanced eighth grader, all free of charge to every school, every boys' club, every girls' club, any group, just four neighborhood kids that are middle school age bracket.
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We also have a competition which you start with a school competition, then you advance to a chapter competition and then you advance to state and then eventually on up to national.
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That is a lot more intense.
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It does cost, but the goal is to help develop the brightest and the best, and this program is sponsored.
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The founding sponsors are CNA Insurance, professional Engineering Society, national Society of Professional Engineers and the National Mathematics Teacher's Council.
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We've been doing this, like I said, for 41 years.
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The whole idea is to improve our students and our country.
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We see the advancement of these students.
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Taking a kid who just says this is way out of my league, I can't do this to seeing them become successful the more time they come back and work our problems.
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A prime example is I have a school in one of my chapters who is always the last place team in the chapter and I went to the coach several years ago and said I can switch you to another chapter, so you'll be middle of the pack.
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And she said oh no, you don't understand.
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My kids need to come be on the bottom of the pack because next year they'll be feeding into this school that all these other kids are going to be feeding into and they need to see that they've got to study, because right now they don't open a textbook, they're just cruising along in the top in their school.
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She said the Monday after math counts.
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It's amazing how they open the textbook and start studying because they don't want to be bottom of the totem pole when they advance to the high school the next year.
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So it's taking kids and taking what knowledge they have, what knowledge we can provide to them, and helping them bloom where they're planted.
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A lot of kids fear math.
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A lot of kids love it, but math is just a puzzle, and I'm one of those kids who feared math, but I wanted to be an engineer, so I had to overcome it, and math counts as an adult has helped me overcome that fear.
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That is wonderful M arguerite.
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Can you tell us aome- I think you are there a couple of stories, inspirational stories you can share with us?
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I had a young man who, when he won our state competition, he was brilliant at math but could hardly write his numbers so it could be read.
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And I told him, as an engineer, I have to be very careful that somebody coming behind me reading my blueprints and my plans can read what I'm writing, Because if I don't show my numbers and put all my writing so that people can read it, I may send somebody to the moon when I'm trying to send them to Mars or send them to the sun versus Mars.
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So I spent from basically March to May, when we went to national competition, teaching him how to write zero through nine so it could be read by others.
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Several years later the young man was number one in the world in Math, Olympia International.
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So that is wonderful, what an accomplishment for a kid who brilliant math but could hardly write, so he could read his numbers.
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Wow, that is wonderful.
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And what kind of things are you doing here at the South Carolina Council of Teachers of Math?
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Basically, we're telling teachers about our program.
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We'll be speaking tomorrow to educate teachers about how they can use the program with them.
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They're teaching class.
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A lot of the teachers use our handbook that we prepare as their lesson planning tools.
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There's vocabulary words in there that the kids need to know what they are and we've also learned through the 41 years of experience that if the teachers will use the vocabulary words and include them with their English teachers to help them, they can typically see SAT scores on the English side increase by about 100 points, because the basic of the English language goes back to the same basics of math.
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Math is Greek and Latin.
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The English language is also based upon Latin, so is your Spanish and several other of our languages.
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So if you can learn those vocabulary words, it can help you on the English side of your SAT scores, along with helping you on your math side of SAT scores.
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Wow, that is incredible.
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Well, thank you so much.
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What an amazing story that MathCounts is doing, and in the South Carolina chapter.
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It's all over the nation and we encourage everybody.
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There's one state that actually mandates every school participate in it.
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Wow, that's MathCounts.
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org, is that right?
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Mathcounts.
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org.
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Wonderful.
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Thank you so much for your participation today, Marguerite, and we look forward to hearing more about all of the wonderful success that you're going to be having both at this conference and then beyond working with the teachers.
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Thank you very much for having us.
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We thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Thanks for being here and being a sponsor.
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Thank you.
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