Shoot the Moon

Leslie Pugmire Hole • Spokesman staff

'Five … four … three … two … one — BLAST OFF!!!”

Ralph Dow was going for the “wow” factor, and when the students of M.A. Lynch Elementary saw the rocket soar into the sky more than 200 feet in mere seconds, he had it in spades.

The model rocket demonstration Jan. 6 was the capstone of a Lynch assembly to “blast off the new year” and rev up the students for another round of a program dubbed “Rocket Math” for its speed computation emphasis.

Dow, a 71-year-old Redmond resident recently retired from a career in management and sales, realized serendipity of purpose soon after joining the Foster Grandparents Program and being assigned to Lynch, where students use Rocket Math to strengthen their math skills and fluency.

Rockets, as it turned up, were right up his alley.

“I started working with model rockets back in the ’80s,” he said. “I love everything about them.” While some model rockets are quite modest and simple in their make-up, he said, others are very complex, with intricate electronics.

Rockets are so fun, Dow theorized, that after the Lynch demonstration, “the hobby shop will be swamped.”

Second-grade teacher Kathy Grant has been using Rocket Math for several years, but this is the first year all students at Lynch are using the program, which takes only minutes a day.

The day of the assembly, Grant’s students do four minutes of Rocket Math, first quizzing each other on simple addition facts verbally, then finishing as many problems as they can with paper and pencil in two minutes.

“This is the only quiet two minutes of my day,” Grant jokes as the students furiously scribble. Rocket Math is meant as a visual motivator; when students complete the facts at one level, they fill in that space on a rocket image, and when all levels are complete, they celebrate that success as having “shot the moon” — and by moving onto the next level.

In class, Grant stresses simple math “tricks” for quick computation, such as Fast Nines, Neighbors and Doubles. Each method teaches kids to mentally calculate rather than use fingers, paper and pencil or calculators.

“I’ve used other speed math before but Rocket Math is much more motivational,” said Grant. “I’ve had parents tell me 'My kid lives for Rocket Math, it’s their favorite part of the day.’”

Dow, as foster grandparent, mentors one of Grant’s students, and he helped the fourth-grade student he mentors build his own rocket.

“I’m just using model rockets as a segue into math,” he said. “Rocket Math is all about doing math fast and well.”

According to Lynch Principal Desiree Margo, Rocket Math is aimed at helping students achieve more math fluency, even in the early grades.

“Oregon has increased the minimum benchmark scores needed for math and this is one piece we’re using to support students towards being successful,” she said.

Using the skills of a foster grandparent towards that goal is icing on the cake, according to Margo.

“We have four foster grandparents this year and I wish we had 50,” she said. “We get the skills and strengths of these wonderful people and the mentoring relationship really helps the students.”

For Dow, focusing on just a few students is important.

“I do best one on one,” he said. “When I retired I was looking for something to get me out of the house, something that meant something. And in the role of grandparents, we can sometimes get kids to do something others can’t.”

CENTRAL OREGON FOSTER GRANDPARENTS PROGRAM

Redmond — Central Oregon

Council on Aging

1135 SW Highland Avenue

Redmond, OR 97756

Steven Guzauskis

Phone: (541) 548-8817

Email: steveng@councilonaging.org

Foster Grandparents are individuals age 55 and over who thrive on direct interaction with children and believe that they can make a difference in children’s lives. Income-eligible Foster Grandparents receive a modest stipend to help offset the costs of volunteering.