Meeting Students’ Diverse Interests at Lake Center

HARTVILLE –  RaeAnna Lewis, a Lake Center Christian School senior says Lake Center’s Senior High Mathematical Modeling and Reasoning (MMR) class –  a year-long, Ohio Department of Education course option – provided her with critical thinking and calculating skills she will use along her career path. 

Students in Lake Center’s MMR class combine problem solving with modeling to analyze real-life situations and devise solution strategies for everyday situations.

“This class really helped me grasp the skills I need to make relevant decisions,” said Lewis, who completed the course last school year. “I loved how the course allowed me to collaborate with my classmates, sharing ideas to complete projects together.”

While “mapping out a road trip, constructing a miniature golf course, taking measurements for a home redesign, remodeling the classroom, and doing taxes,” Lewis said she appreciated the application of math to solve real world problems.

“This class emphasizes creating visuals and finding solutions to daily challenges, creatively and collectively, instead of just completing worksheets and taking tests,” said the LCCS senior.  

“Students really flourish in this class,” said Lake Center Math Teacher Ms. Emily Jacobs, the MMR course instructor. “This course is not about daily homework; it is project-based and very hands-on. The course helps students understand math is an important part of our daily lives.”

Lake Center Selected for ODE Pilot Math Program 

Lake Center Christian School is currently in its second year of the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Mathematical Modeling and Reasoning pilot course. LCCS is one of 150 public district or nonpublic schools in Ohio participating in year two of the pilot.

Before the 2021-22 school year, Lake Center was chosen for the inaugural year of the course, with Ms. Jacobs regularly participating in professional development in preparation to present the class to LCCS senior high students.

Mathematical Modeling and Reasoning is considered an upper level math course, providing an additional class option in Lake Center’s Senior High Math Program. This course is an Algebra 2 equivalent course and will satisfy the credit requirement for Algebra 2. It may be taken after the completion of Algebra I and Geometry.

“While we have a pathway for students to take a Precalculus and AP Calculus course in high school, we recognize that this does not fit the range of all students’ diverse interests as they prepare to enter college and career life,” explained Lake Center Christian School Director of Curriculum and Instruction Mrs. Gretchen Shaffer. “Well designed learning and preparation for future careers often happens when students engage in hands-on, collaborative work within real-world situations.”

Lake Center values the creativity and talents others have to strengthen the community. One of the school’s core values is diversity – celebrating students’ different interests for the future.

Students Building Real World of Work Skills: Collaboration, Perseverance, Critical Thinking

The ODE MMR course emphasizes interpretation, precision, representation, calculation, analysis, use of assumptions, and communication through student presentations and writing, preparing students to enter directly into a credit-bearing math course at the postsecondary level or to go directly into a career field. These habits and skills cut across disciplines, promote perseverance, and provide a gateway into successful postsecondary education and a variety of careers, states the ODE.

The MMR course is especially appropriate for students with some of the following characteristics: anticipating a career in the arts or behavior sciences; anticipating a career that emphasizes utilizing measurements or units; pursuing a pathway that does not require calculus; and/or for those who enjoys interactive, cooperative work within real-world contexts, according to the ODE.

Mrs Shaffer said, like each class at Lake Center Christian School, a Biblical worldview is incorporated into the curriculum for the MMR course.

“Students are shown that this course helps prepare them for a variety of callings where they can serve Christ in their work,” she said. “Students who take this course can see how the order in mathematics reveals the character of God and combines problem solving with modeling to analyze real-life situations and devise solution strategies that will help care for creation and show love and care for all God’s people.”