Somerville’s “math”-terminds: (L to R) Celia Taylor,Margaret Clapham, Erica Voolich,Alison Walton, Eileen MacDonnell, and Kate Briggs.

By Harry Kane

This year twenty K-12 teachers received grants of up to $500 for math related supplements.

The winning teachers use the funds for family math nights and to buy enrichment materials for their higher achieving students.

“They really fill the gap,” said Annette Bassett, K-5 math coach at the Healey School and Winter Hill School. “There’s a lot of creativity on the teacher’s part to supplement the math program instruction.”

“As a math coach I really encourage all the teachers to apply for these grants,” Bassett said.

Founder and President of the Somerville Mathematics Fund, Erica Voolich said, “[Her] mission is to celebrate and encourage mathematic achievement in Somerville.” Voolich has helped teachers receive grants since 2000.

Celia Taylor is one of the K-2 teachers that received a grant. Taylor is a huge supporter of Voolich. “She’s a magician. She’s an inspiration, a mathematical genius,” Taylor said.

Voolich evaluates and reviews all the applications and presents them to the members of the board of the Somerville Mathematics Fund to determine who will receive the grant. Underwriter, John Bullock, to encourage mathematics in the classrooms, donated a sum of $8000 this year.

Alison Walton is a second grade teacher at the Healey School. Walton created take home bags that children use to supplement their schoolwork. Products in the take home bags correspond with the curriculum, like number cards or coin sets.

This is the second year in a row that Walton has received the award: $425 this time around.

Walton has been a teacher for two years in Somerville and five years overall. “I’m so thankful that there is money available to allow us to do this for the kids.”

Eileen MacDonnell is a third grade teacher at the Healey School. They are learning about multiplication. “Last year I heard about the math grant through Annette Bassett who is the math coach at the Healey and she pushed me to apply and I did and I got the full funding last year.”

This year MacDonnell bought four multiplication electronic-games. “It’s a nice extra bit of money and support in the classroom that teachers don’t normally get.”

Voolich taught middle school for 42 years. She knows kids and has worked with many teachers. “I had a teacher in seventh grade that turned me around. My seventh grade math teacher, dear Mr. James Garnett; he realized that my problems were that I had trouble reading and he worked with me.” Over the years as a teacher Voolich found that kids learned in different ways. “I never give up on any of the students I have.”

When Voolich started the math fund in 2000 her own goal was to give one teacher grant per year. Now 12 years later twenty teachers receive grants from The Somerville Mathematics Fund.