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Weekly Math Program A Big Plus For Students

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By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2007

TAMPA - On Wednesday evenings, the questions start rolling in at 6 p.m.

Seventh-grade students Max and Quinton each need help with algebra problems. Sixth-grader Janiqua is trying to sort through equations, too.

Patiently, Hillsborough County schoolteachers Hanna G. Hanna and Tammy Rush guide them through the steps.

'Sometimes, we just need to reassure them that they are on the right track, and other times we go into greater detail as we work through it,' says Hanna, who has been a volunteer for the 'Math Homework Hotline' for 10 years.

This is Rush's first year with the program, which airs live on The Educational Channel.

'I love it,' she says. 'It's an incredible service for the community, and it helps so many children.'

Hanna adds that it is a valuable service for students because parents aren't always able to help with algebra homework, and a private tutor could cost up to $40 an hour.

'Teachers will record the program and use it in class,' he says.

Most of the calls are from children in middle school, where algebra gets tough. The calls are screened off-camera by volunteer teachers and staff at The Education Channel. Some questions are answered at that point. Others are passed through to the studio for a live chat with Hanna and Rush.

'It's been very rewarding,' Hanna says. 'I've had students tell me that without this help they would have failed.'

'Math Homework Hotline' was launched 14 years ago after the staff at The Education Channel thought it would be a good community service, says Ann Goldenberg, the channel's executive director.
Goldenberg says the Hillsborough school system was reluctant to get involved at first.

'We went out ourselves and got a $5,000 grant to make a pilot and get it started,' she says.

It was a tough sell, but after a second grant and a second pilot, the weekly hot line was up and running.

'They the school system have become fantastic partners now in this show,' she says.

'We had it on for a couple of years without any promotion, but we knew in our gut that it would work,' says Lucy Griggs, program director for the channel. 'Once the children found it, they started using it.'

It grew from just having a couple of teachers taking questions off-camera to having a team field the questions. Griggs says the hot line may look high-tech on camera, but the set was put together this summer by the staff with just a few hundred dollars of inexpensive props and materials such as chicken wire and duct tape.

Ratings information is not available for The Education Channel, Goldenberg says. But the channel's research estimates the hot line has received more than 25,000 calls from students since it started.

'A lot of students watch it and never call in,' Goldenberg says. 'We think it's being watched in a substantial number of homes because there are 43,000 middle school children in the county.'

The success of the hot line led to the creation of an 80-part Algebra I series, which is replayed often and is available for download online at www .educationchannel.org.

In addition to answering questions on Wednesdays, Hanna and Rush offer a challenge question at the top of the program. The first person to solve the problem wins a 'Math Homework Hotline' T-shirt and gets to present the answer on the air.

Griggs said some children enjoy the interaction and call often. Programs are repeated at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and during those showings students can still call in with questions. Volunteer teachers are waiting off-camera to help.

CAN'T SOLVE IT?

Call the 'Math Homework Hotline' from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday at (813) 254-2253.

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