About Us

Ms. Jenna Hacker

Instructor, McNeese Mathematical Sciences

One elementary student was working on the Genius Star and asked for help. We completed the puzzle together, and he yelled, "Mom! We did the puzzle as a team!" I thought this was sweet because it's important to be okay asking for help in certain problems. The fact he was still excited he completed it with help was nice to see as well. 

Participating in the Math Rodeo has helped me practice explaining concepts in different ways. The students have also shown me new ways of doing things. The math rodeo emphasized to me the importance of the process of solving a problem and how much more encouragement a student needs rather than focusing on the actual correctness of a process. 

Ms. Jennifer Melancon

Instructor, McNeese Mathematical Sciences

Participating in the Rowdy's Math Rodeo has been an absolute pleasure! My favorite part is watching how excited kids (and sometimes even their parents) get when they have overcome a challenge. I love to see a young person come up to the table excited to 'play a game' only to find the puzzle presents a challenge they weren't expecting. Watching them struggle, you can see a shift in their face when the frustration turns into persistence. The problem- solving gears start turning as they try different strategies until finally...success! The thrill of perseverance can be heard in their elated shrieks..."I did it!!"- pride of accomplishment visible on their faces. The Math Rodeo offers much more than logic and math problem solving skills; it builds character and confidence in the developing minds of children, helping to shape the way they approach any problem in class or in life, and I am so happy to be a part of it! 

Dr. Mario Gonzalez

Assistant Professor, McNeese Mathematical Sciences

On the Tower of Hanoi, one junior high school student was able to find the formula for the minimum number of moves needed to move the stack of disks from one peg to another. The activity is started at 3 disks. However, in order to test his conjecture about the formula, he removed disks to have only 2 disks to find the minimum number of moves for those (which would be a minimum of 3 moves). 

It has been nice hearing how thankful and interested the schools we have visited so far have been. It seemed that they sometimes don’t have the time or resources to host these kinds of events or don’t get visitors like us. 

Mr. Tristan Salinas

Instructor, McNeese Mathematical Sciences

One moment that really stuck out to me was one student who spent about an hour trying to figure out the color/shape mat. While a majority of the students were done by the second puzzle, this student stayed with me until he figured it out. I asked if he wanted some help solving, and he said no. Eventually, he figured out the fourth mat, and we both got really excited. I asked him if he enjoyed the mats and he said that he did. Then I asked if he enjoyed math and he said that he actually did not like math. When I told him that he had just done math, he was almost in shock. I was really excited that he did not give up and showed a lot of tenacity because sometimes that is just what you have to do when you study math.