This year something new is coming to Springville Junior High; it is the math core. According to Mrs. Corrin Gleave, math teacher at SJHS, this new core will be a good change for the school. “We used to teach by subject; algebra, geometry, algebra. Compare that to teaching a basketball unit in PE, then a football unit, then a baseball unit. That was the old core. The new core teaches by concept. Think teaching a unit on throwing ball; throwing a basketball, then a football, then a baseball. Now move onto catching. Learn to catch a basketball, then a football, then a baseball, everything is still there—it is just reordered and re-packaged.”
For some students, math is easier with this transition, and for some it is a little harder. According to the Utah Core Standards initiative, teachers, parents and community leaders from around the country developed and presented the new math core. Our state, along with 43 others, adopted the new math and language arts core. James Smith, an eighth-grade student at SJHS, feels that we adopted the math core so America can have a better education. This will be a big change to our school and it will take some time to adjust. For more Information go to www.corestandards.org.