EKB News

Shiley Mahon is just like any other typical high school sophomore. Sitting down with parents to do anything, not to mention school work, just isn’t the “in” thing to do.But since Mahon began attending Matewan High School’s SEEDS program, a change has taken place. And it hasn’t been lost on her mother.“She’ll come home and say ‘Hey mom, can you do this?’” says Melissa Mahon of her daughter’s newfound passion for problem solving. “A lot of this stuff we didn’t have in school, so she teaches me a lot. She’ll sit down with me now...usually she doesn’t do that.”That’s one of the goals SEEDS, an acronym for Student Education Economic Development Success, sets out to accomplish — foster more interaction between students and their parents. And from the looks of things, the innovative first-year program is doing just that, and a whole lot more.“We’re trying to make an impact,” Matewan Principal Marcella Charles says. “And I think we are. I think you can feel the excitement.”SEEDS is a pilot program started in January which was modeled after a similar one developed in Florida. It is funded through a grant from the state legislature, with the money managed through the state Department of Education and the Arts. Five schools statewide (Valley-Wetzel High School, Matewan High School, Berkeley Heights Elementary, Clay Middle School and Raleigh Elementary) were selected after the initial application process to receive up to $25,000 per year for three years to implement SEEDS in order to target an area of weakness. In the case of Matewan High, as with most other schools nationwide, that happens to be math. In March the school began in earnest to aggressively engage both middle and high school pupils with a two-day-a-week after school program to help strengthen math skills. Charles says the 21 total students involved with SEEDS spend an hour and a half on Tuesdays and Thursdays with faculty, student mentors, a school “coach”, after school teachers and volunteer student tutors to accomplish this.And in the short time since its inception, results are starting to show.“Last year she struggled really bad,” Mattie Hammond, mother of SEEDS participant Magan Hammond, says of her daughter. “Since she started the program she’s gone from a C-minus (average) to a B-plus. “She now wants to be more of a leader instead of a follower. Math was always a downfall, but now she looks forward to it and enjoys it.”Making math enjoyable is half the battle. In order to do that, Matewan has taken a cutting-edge approach, incorporating learning tools students can both identify with and enjoy, such as a Wii video game system. The envelope-pushing initiative certainly has gotten kids in the door of what they would ordinarily look past — class after class is done for the day.“The games make it way more fun,” student participant Jeffree Pruitt says. “That makes more people come, and you can learn from them. When I found out they had the Wii I wanted to come. It’s not a problem coming after school any more.”Another sure way to get kids interested, says Charles, is to take them on a trip. At the end of the school year students who have attended at least 75 percent of the SEEDS sessions will be taken to Cedar Point’s Math and Science Day. It’s all, she says, about engaging students and getting them involved by any means necessary. It is, as the program’s name infers, all about planting seeds. State SEEDS Project Director Larry Lohan agrees, and adds it’s all about providing an opportunity. It’s all about giving a chance that ordinarily wouldn’t be available.“(A SEEDS participant) typically is a kid who isn’t engaged, and has attendance issues, as well as maybe home issues,” Lohan says. “This gives them a means to help improve what they might not ordinarily have. Going out and paying a tutor in math isn’t realistic for many of these kids. This can help them turn the corner.”Volunteer tutor Veronica Ross can see the corner being turned — inch by inch, step by step. She even can see the manifestation of results in her own math skill set. For her, SEEDS has had a reciprocal effect. And she has a future vision for the program that seems to be having, as Charles believes, such an impact on her school.“It’s even helped me with my own classes,” the Matewan junior says. “I want to see West Virginia and the entire country get a better math score, and maybe go on to other things that we need to improve.”

Courtesy : Williamson Daily News.