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By Douglas McCulloch
Hometown Weekly Staff
On a sunny Monday morning, Old Post Road School fifth grade classes took a field trip to Bird Park for the school’s 23rd annual Math Day.
The fifth graders spent most of their school day enjoying fun activities with a math-themed twist at Bird Park. Students raced through an obstacle course and learned about calculating means and averages based on their times.
Other students set up a baseball diamond to play ball, using their geometry and measuring skills to ensure each base was perfectly placed. Math bingo was another popular attraction, which allowed students to practice their arithmetic skills.
The fifth graders took a break close to lunchtime for a cookout, and the day finished off with a big park-wide math game involving all of the students, staff and parents who attended.
Old Post Road fifth grade teacher Shawn Gough, who helped organize this year’s Math Day along with fellow teacher Nancy Golden, noted that Math Day is a fun annual tradition for the Old Post Road School. He recalled that the idea for a Math Day event came from an ad teachers found years ago.
“23 years ago we found an ad from Canobie Lake Park all about having a math day at the park,” Gough said. He explained that the teachers decided it was too expensive to bring classes to the park in New Hampshire, but decided that Bird Park would be a perfect location for their own Math Day.
The very first Math Day event was a challenge for Gough and the staff who helped out.
“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Gough recalled. “We had 150 kids and no materials.”
But over the years, the Math Day has grown into an annual year-end tradition for Old Post Road fifth graders, and it grows every year.
“Over the 23 years we try to make improvements every year,” Gough said. “We also try to change things up every two years.”
This year, the Math Day featured a new addition: a fraction toss. The activity revolved around a traditional beanbag toss, but instead of simply adding up points, each hole on the board corresponded to a faction, requiring students to add fractions to determine their scores.
Gough noted that Math Day is a popular and fun event because it brings the kids, teachers and parents together for a fun education-filled day outdoors.
“The beauty is that we have 90 students here but we also have 30 parents and five teachers,” Gough said. “The students can be outside and have fun."
