Children 'bank' on 'Do the Math'

dtmbanking062: Do The Math
San Joaquin Bank’s Doris DePew shares a binder explaining the principles of opening a saving account with Downtown Elementary School student Danielle Darling.
Since "Do the Math" began airing in the 2002-03 school year, children in Kern County have found it to be a fun, easy and educational way to help solve their math homework. After a winter holiday hiatus, the unique twice-a-week educational television program, originating from the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office (KCSOS) in Bakersfield, returns to the airwaves on Jan. 10-11.

Do the Math airs every Tuesday and Wednesday from 4-5 p.m. through April 5. It can be seen on several cable outlets including Bright House Cable Ch. 15, Cox Cable Ch. 20, Charter Cable Ch. 43 (North Edwards) and Mediacom Cable Channel 8 (Ridgecrest).

Live in-studio, mathematics instructors field questions phoned in by students and work the problems out on a large, easy-to-see display board. Show hosts also present pre-designed math problems and solutions that follow California Department of Education curriculum standards. Even before the camera's red light comes on, at 3:30 p.m., another team of teachers begins tutoring students over the phone, which continues in English and Spanish until 5:30 p.m. Students can call the math problems in on the Do the Math helplines, (661) 636-4357 (636-HELP) and toll free (866) 636-6284 (636-MATH).

Then, there are the entertaining and educational features that have taken the show's hosts on the road to show how mathematics is used in the Civilian Space Shuttle and "autonomous ground vehicles" at Mojave Airport and in the making of candy at Dewar's Candy Shop and ice for hockey games at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. The first two shows of the new season on Jan. 10-11 will take middle school student Danielle Darling and host Michael Cushine to SanJoaquin Bank to learn about opening a savings account and the mathematics of banking.

Distance is no obstacle to learning. In theory, anyone in the world with a computer can tune in to Do the Math. It is video streamed live via the Internet from the KCSOS Web site, http://www.kern.org. All you have to do is click on the Do the Math icon and then click on the "Broadcast & Archive" button to watch the show live or see months' worth of past episodes.

"We have received calls from as far away as Ventura County and some from those who may not have actually understood what the show's concept is," said show founder/executive producer Laurie Maclin. Maclin has taken her turns answering the phones during the show. "Once a little girl called who was stuck on the meaning of two words and wanted to know which one to use in a sentence," said Maclin. "I told her, and she told me, 'you saved my life.'"

Although the show's audience is usually middle and high school students, the talented quartet of teaching hosts, which include Cushine, Barbara Parr, Hilda Wright and Claudia Pagano, have not been stumped by callers' problems. Show co-director Kevin Willey does remember a close call that required a little improvising.

"A college student called in with a calculus problem," Willey recalled. "Fortunately, Chuck Kropp, an advanced mathematics teacher at West High, was tutoring on the phones that day. We asked. He said, 'Sure.' We put a mike on him, marched him up to the set, and he worked the problem without a hitch."

Dealing with callers on live television presents other challenges to solving math problems, such as barking dogs, feedback from callers who forget to turn their TV volume down and crying babies that the caller is babysitting. Nothing phases the unflappable show hosts.

Willey remembers one of the classic calls. "A former host, Harlan Elrich, was in the middle of working this long, algebraic problem for a student, when all of a sudden the caller says, 'could you hold on a second, my mom's on the other line?' Harlan did, although he had his dancing shoes on that night. After a while, the student got back on the line. Harlan finished the problem and the show went on."

Sorting through the phone calls and deciding which ones to put on the air, as well as coming up with each show's itinerary is the work of KCSOS instructional resources clerk II Cyndi Crawford. John Lenko, co-executive producer, also directs most of the shows making camera changes and calling up video while simultaneously keeping the hosts informed through headsets, asking for more or less sound from the audio director and somehow surviving the onslaught of barking dogs, screaming babies and squealing TV sets that occasionally blast through his headphones.

While it is hard to measure the actual cable audience, Maclin's tutors log all the calls they receive each broadcast day. She said calls are up 20 percent over the past year, averaging approximately 81 a day. The profile of the average caller, Maclin says, is a female, seventh-grader.

Funding for "Do the Math" comes from the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Bakersfield City School District, Kern High School District, Panama-Buena Vista Union School District, Chevron, Castle and Cook and San Joaquin Bank. Additional support is provided by Golden Empire McDonald's Owners and Operators and Russo's Books.


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