Math fun, fund engineered by veteran teacher

By Erin Dower/ Journal Staff
Wednesday, November 24, 2004 (from the Somerville Journal)

The benefits of the Somerville Mathematics Fund are multiplying every year, and that's a big plus.
From sponsoring Family Mathematics Nights to purchasing "math backpacks" to fund raising for scholarships, the Somerville Mathematics Fund team has had a busy fourth year.
     "Each year, we get such exciting ideas," said Erica Dakin Voolich, the president of SMF.
Voolich lives in Somerville and has taught math at various area schools over the past 37 years. She currently teaches at a parochial school in Newton, but she established the Math Fund in Somerville in 2000 using a grant she won that year as part of a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching.
"I realize that this is a community where there's a lot of work to be done," Voolich said.
Many of the city's students speak English as a second language, and mathematics curriculum can be "pretty abstract" for any student, she said.
One of the main purposes of the Math Fund is to support teachers' projects that make math more hands-on, engaging and comprehensive, Voolich said.
   For instance, teachers Eileen Kilty of the Arthur D. Healey School, and Nina Maria Romano of the Michael E. Capuano Early Childhood Center, recently used Math Fund money to purchase math backpacks which are full of math-related story books and games.
     Middle school students have benefited this past year from Family Math Nights, such as a Pattern Party held last spring at the Healey School, where students, parents and teachers created patterns and solved geometric puzzles.
     The Math Fund, which is an affiliate of the Dollars for Scholars program, has awarded 14 math grants to teachers totaling $6,313. Teachers' applications are due in January for more financial aid for math projects, Voolich said.
Superintendent of Somerville Public Schools Al Argenziano said the Math Fund does more than keep young students interested in mathematics. The fund's scholarships pay for older students to pursue their dreams.
     "It's a group of community members offering help to our students," Argenziano said. "That's a win-win situation." Every year, SMF provides students with $1,000 scholarships that are renewable for all four years of college as long as recipients maintain a B average and continue to take math courses, Voolich said.
So far, all 10 of the students - five boys and five girls - who have received the scholarships have met the criteria, she said. A total of $40,000 in scholarships have been awarded since 2000. At least one more $4,000 award will be granted to a Somerville student at the end of this year, thanks to the help of volunteers who participated in Scholarship America's 5K fund-raiser walks held this fall in Wakefield and at the University of Southern California, Voolich said.
Although Voolich has been in the mathematics field for decades, she said she has never heard of another math charity.
"I think we're unique," she said. "I think we're quite a specialized group."
For more information, visit http://www.somervillemathematicsfund.org.