PRIME

The People Reaching Intuition in Mathematics for Empowerment Program (PRIME) is an after-school program that gives interested high school students from Youngstown City Schools the opportunity to participate in mathematical activities and experiment with mathematical research. PRIME’s main goal is to inspire scholars, PRIME Scholars or PRIMES, to pursue education after high school in STEM areas and to give them the confidence, enjoyment, and tools to be able to fulfill their mathematics requirements to get that degree. PRIMES conduct mathematical research in applied and/or pure mathematics with their peers under the guidance of Youngstown State University faculty members over the course of the academic year and then present their progress to their teachers and families at a celebration at the end of the program. Additionally, PRIMES participate in active mathematics seminars to introduce new mathematics to PRIMES as well as show different career options for mathematicians. Further support of PRIMES is provided in the way of regular mentoring sessions with first generation undergraduate students of color at YSU through an established program called Achieve Impact Motivate (AIM). AIM mentors will give on-going college readiness support to improve high school students' knowledge of college options and chances of college success.

This proposal was funded by two MAA Tensor SUMMA (Strengthening Underrepresented Minority Mathematics Achievement) grant (2021, 2022). The first program began in fall 2021 and is currently still running.

If you are interested in participating in the program, or know someone who is, please contact myself (abyers@ysu.edu), Dr. Alicia Prieto-Langarica (aprieto@ysu.edu), or Mr. Charles Stark (charles.stark@youngstown.k12.oh.us).

PRIME in the media:

PRIME Promotes Math Careers in Youngstown City Schools

Research Projects

Using Math to Make Youngstown Better.

Advisor: Dr. Prieto Langarica

Quality of Life (QoL) in the city of Youngstown is lacking in many different ways. Students will be provided geographical data of the city and neighboring suburbs and will be asked to come up with a way to measure quality of life (proximity to service, recreation, blight, etc). They will then give a QoL score to each neighborhood in the city and will come up with a plan to improve the scores for as many neighborhoods as possible. Results from this project will be presented by the students to the Youngstown City Council.

Exploring Graph Colorings.

Advisor: Dr. Byers

Anything that involves objects with some relationship to one another can be modeled with a graph. We use graphs to model things like traffic patterns, the internet, and communication and social networks. The study of graphs has strong connections to computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, as well as other areas of mathematics. In this project, we will use logical reasoning to explore a fun topic in graph theory that involves coloring the graph in different ways. Even this has applications to scheduling and allocation algorithms. Together we will ask questions, investigate examples, formulate conjectures, and prove our ideas.

Mathematical Seminars

Active participation seminars introduce new mathematics to PRIMES as well as show different career options for mathematicians. Presenters will range from math students and faculty in and outside YSU to mathematicians with careers in industry.

Past Speakers in the PRIME Speaker Series:

Dr. Ranthony A.C. Edmonds, NSF RTG Postdoctoral Scholar and Visiting Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University
Dr. Selenne Banuelos, Associate Professor in Mathematics at CSU Channel Islands
Dr. Shelby Wilson, Senior Data Scientist at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Dr. Mayowa Awe, Director of inSTEM at the National Science & Technology Medals Foundation
Dr. Rosaura Uscanga, Assistant Professor at Mercy College
Dr. Edray Goins, Professor at Pomona College, Director of PRiME (Pomona Research in Mathematics Experience)

Dr. Ranthony A.C. Edmonds Poster.pdf

Our first speaker in the series was Dr. Ranthony A.C. Edmonds, an NSF RTG Postdoctoral Scholar and Visiting Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University in the Department of Mathematics. She earned a PhD in Mathematics in 2018, an MS in Mathematical Sciences from Eastern Kentucky University in 2013, and a BA in English and a BS in Mathematics from the University of Kentucky in 2011. Dr. Edmonds is interested in investigating the factorization properties in sets called commutative rings, as well as how to study the shape of data using a branch of mathematics called algebraic topology. In 2022 she will begin an NSF MPS Ascending Postdoc to use applied algebraic topology to study electoral redistricting. Her research interests also include math education, where most of her work is centered around the theme of ‘hidden narratives’ in STEM.

Podcasts

[NPR Short Wave Interview] https://www.npr.org/2021/04/12/986580131/a-classroom-where-math-and-community-intersect
[My Favorite Theorem] https://kpknudson.com/my-favorite-theorem/2021/8/14/episode-69-ranthony-edmonds

Redistricting and Communities of Interest Project

[Project Proposal] https://mggg.org/posts/open-maps
[Project Report (Public)] https://ohredistrict.org/assets/images/unity-maps/OCRC-Report-State-Leg.pdf
[Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission Website] https://ohredistrict.org/
[Dept. Press for NSF Postdoc] https://math.osu.edu/news/edmonds-awarded-mps-ascending-postdoctoral-research-fellowship

Hidden Figures

[Dept. Press for Seed Grant Racial Justice Black Math History Project] https://math.osu.edu/news/edmonds-awarded-funding-through-osu-seed-fund-racial-justice
[Article on Hidden Figures Course] https://artsandsciences.osu.edu/news/new-mathematics-course-connects-students-columbus-own-hidden-figures
[Hidden Figures Course Community Partner] https://cosi.org/connects/color-of-science.php#nav-resources

BanuelosPrime (1).pdf

We were honored to host Dr. Edray Herber Goins as our first speaker of 2023 in our PRIME Speaker Series. Dr. Goins grew up in South Los Angeles, California. The product of the Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) public school system, Goins attended the California Institute of Technology, where he majored in mathematics and physics, and earned his doctorate in mathematics from Stanford University. He has worked as a researcher at both Harvard and the National Security Agency; and has taught at both Caltech and Purdue. Goins is currently a Professor of Mathematics at Pomona College in Claremont, California. He has published over 25 journal articles in areas such as applied mathematics, graph theory, number theory, and representation theory; and on topics such as Diophantine equations, elliptic curves, and African Americans in mathematics. He runs a federally-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) titled Pomona Research in Mathematics Experience (PRiME). Dr. Goins talked to our scholars about his experience in Mathematics, being one of the only Black students in the classroom, and the importance of building a supportive community.

[ For a Black Mathematician, What It’s Like to Be the ‘Only One’ ] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/us/edray-goins-black-mathematicians.html
[ What I Learned While Reporting on the Dearth of Black Mathematicians ]
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/reader-center/black-mathematicians-research-academic-racism.html
[ Edray Herber Goins, Biography ]
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Goins/
[ Edray Goins on being a Black mathematician, building community and confronting racism in academia ]
https://tsl.news/edray-goins-on-mathematics-of-african-diaspora/

PRIME poster.pdf

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