2025-2026 Math Literacy Program Team

2024-2025 Math Literacy Program Team

2023-2024 Math Literacy Program Team

What MLP mentors say...

"The Math Literacy Program has significantly impacted my professional growth, particularly in my role as a mentor. One of the most important areas of growth was developing the ability to create math games tailored to the grade levels of the students we worked with. This not only challenged my creativity but also strengthened my understanding of how to make learning engaging and accessible. Professionally, being a mentor has helped me expand my skill set by learning new software, improving my communication skills, and learning to convey the same idea in multiple ways to suit different learners. One memorable “aha” moment was realizing how much more receptive students were when I engaged with them one-on-one. Instead of giving general instructions to the group, I found that students responded better when I explained concepts directly and used relatable similes. This personalized approach fostered better connections and made the learning experience more effective for them—and more rewarding for me."

"I love doing puzzles, working with people, and thinking about math in different ways to really explore the subject.  The Math Literacy Program has given me the opportunity to do all of these things as part of a team of kind, driven, and creative students.  Not only have I gained valuable experience in talking to people about a variety of games or projects through tabling events, but I have also had the pleasure of working more consistently with students through First Star Academy events.  The exciting and thought-provoking problems and projects which we teach students are not only fun for everyone involved, but also build community and connection through mathematics.  After I graduate I plan to teach math, and am benefiting greatly from not only the experiences that being a part of the Math Literacy Program gives me, but I also can't wait to show these math projects to my future students."

"MLP is also involved with a variety of programs where we have the opportunity to work with adolescents. I got to lead a workshop during the Expanding Your Horizons event designed to build interest in STEM careers to middle school girls. There I learned about time management during lessons, presentation skills, and how to manage student engagement. Later in the semester, MLP was invited to give two lessons with hands-on activities to an 8th grade class at Fern Bacon Middle School; in one lesson we showed students how to construct fractals by cutting paper, and in the other, we taught students to create modular origami of platonic solids. This was the first time I got to see how a real-world middle school math class operates. Now I feel much more comfortable with how classroom management works. MLP also works with the foster youth high school students of First Star Academy. Throughout the semester, I lead the development of curriculum for our December workshop which we titled “Learn Math with Dance.” We designed this lesson to teach function transformations in an engaging way by having students perform dance moves associated with functions and steps associated with vertical and horizontal translations. This gave me the opportunity to create lesson materials and also a chance to collaborate with the other mentors. We went through multiple drafts and mock performances of the lesson to ensure that everything would go smoothly during the actual event which helped me learn the importance of lesson preparation and planning. In addition to these outreach events, MLP also connects with the students of Sac State campus. We often set up a table in the library quad to help inform students of the MLP and provide them with information about the various resources for math help on campus. We also had a table during Future Hornet Day at Sac State in the University Ballroom where we talked to prospective Sac State students about the math department. This helped me learn how to be a good representative of the math department and build interest in mathematics."

"The First Star Academy events were very beneficial to me. I'd only ever worked one-on-one as a tutor, so collaborating with the other MLP mentors to present a lesson to a whole group of high schoolers was a big deal to me. It was good to be able to experience that I could be pretty nervous and still perform adequately.  It also showed me my strengths and weaknesses.  I am always very prepared, but teaching to a group also requires thinking on your feet and adjusting your approach when things don't go according to plan. I think MLP has helped me get better at that. These events involved working with the students as well, not just presenting, so it was an opportunity to deal with different personalities and different levels of motivation/interest while trying to keep students engaged. Across the semester, we began to implement vertical board work and other activities like the Math and Dance event that had students active on their feet instead of passive at their desks -- and that clearly had a positive effect on engagement. It was great to see that pedagogy in action.  I got a lot out of the Cardiovascular Wellness events as well, although I was able to go to less of them. We worked with senior citizens, playing games with them and then giving a presentation on the math underlying those games. It felt good to be working with another part of the community, especially knowing the cognitive benefits of math games and the studies that show they delay the onset of dementia, which we talked about. Just like First Start Academy, it was good practice communicating math ideas to others, and finding that balance between being friendly and professional.  In October, we got to be a part of the Expanding Your Horizons Conference, where a huge group of females, middle-school students participated in STEM workshops, and that was really inspiring. As mentors, we worked with the same group of students throughout the conference, and it was fun getting to know them, and great seeing them excited about the workshops.  I also want to mention that because of the MLP, I was invited to be part of an episode on the Building Justice podcast along with some other math majors, where we talked about inclusivity in the math major. The intersection of education and social justice is very important to me, and it was great to be a part of that dialog. In that way, MLP has also helped me feel a part of the STEM community at Sac State."

"Participating in events like Engineering Day, First Star Academy, and NSM Fest has been such a cool experience for me as a CS major with a math minor at Sac State. These events totally opened my eyes to how math plays a big role in engineering and other STEM stuff. I got to dive into hands-on activities, chat with professionals, and see how math isn't just numbers on a page – it's everywhere! From coding to building, I learned that math is like the secret sauce that makes everything work. Plus, hanging out with other students who are into the same stuff was awesome. It made me feel like I'm part of a community of math and tech lovers. These events have totally boosted my confidence and made me super excited about where my studies can take me. Can't wait for more adventures like these!"