A group of Kapaʻa High School juniors and seniors recently participated in a Math Readiness Camp established through the joint efforts of Kauaʻi Community College Assistant Professor Gigi Drent and Kapaʻa High School teacher Kathryn Bailey.
Designed to give students a head start at college and inspire them to pursue STEM fields of study, the Math Readiness Camp prepares high school students for college-level mathematics courses.
The students were all applicants to the college’s Running Start program, a statewide program that provides an opportunity for academically qualified juniors and seniors to enroll in college classes through the University of Hawaiʻi System as part of their high school coursework and earn both high school and college credits.
Two Kauaʻi Community College students, Roxanne Carvalho and Jameyia Shamia, also served as mentors throughout the service-learning project.
In Math Camp, students brushed up on their skills in preparation for a COMPASS placement test, a computerized test that measures skills in reading, writing and mathematics to determine readiness for college-level courses in these areas. They were tested daily to determine individual study needs. Drent found that students all pre-tested in the 20–40 percent range and post-tested in the 60–85 percent range. Some even achieved 100 percent perfect scores.
“Students are really excited about their opportunity to take college courses next semester and most of all they are very happy to have actually learned some math,” said Drent. “One student even said, ‘It’s so much fun to really understand,’ and that in itself makes all the difference in the world.”
The project was funded by a grant received by the college from Hawaiʻi Pacific Islands Campus Compact. Kauaʻi Community College also received a generous donation from the International Test and Evaluation Association’s Mid-Pacific Chapter on Kauaʻi.
