WASHINGTON, DC—This year’s NCAA March Madness basketball season may be over, but for a few thousand Washington DC public school students—and in particular, one unusual group of thirteen—March Madness 2015 will resonate for a very long time.
Inspiring Youth Program’s First In Math Team Leader, Dr. Brajendra Sharma, holding the FIM trophy.
Now in its third year, the District of Columbia Public Schools’ (DCPS) First in Math March Madness competition is a district-wide event. Like its inspiration from the college ranks, the DCPS tournament pits one school against another in a seeded, single elimination-style playoff schedule over a three-week period. In this series, however, participating schools go head-to-head over math problems, not baskets.
For DCPS, the First in Math March Madness competition is big news. District Chancellor, Kaya Henderson, celebrates it in her Twitter feed. Principals good-naturedly trash-talk each other. More importantly, millions of math problems are completed over the three-week tournament.
This year’s champion team—the one that exceeded the efforts of students across a school system nearly 50,000 strong—was a group of thirteen 9th to 12th graders from the Inspiring Youth Program at Washington DC’s Central Detention Facility.
As with most cities, the DC public school system is required to provide quality education for teens in confinement. The Inspiring Youth Program has roughly two-dozen young men currently enrolled, spending anywhere from two to nine months or more in the program.
Many people would expect that young people in this situation would be the least likely to win. After all, they are in detention. They probably wouldn’t even be interested.
Yet First In Math creator Robert Sun is not surprised. “I think their teacher, Dr. Brajendra Sharma, knows something that few others do; something that has also become evident to me after working with urban students for nearly 25 years. In my experience, kids from disadvantaged backgrounds have the uncanny ability to rise above their circumstances. In fact, they have character traits that make them the most motivated, resilient and inspired young people you’ll ever find.”
Sun feels that kids from difficult urban environments have the need to prove themselves. “They have an unquenchable desire to demonstrate to themselves, and others, that they are capable and can succeed. Give them the chance to release this passion, and the results are often remarkable.”
District of Columbia Public Schools understands this; and through its March Madness tournament each year, it adds further excitement, camaraderie, goal-sharing and goodwill. When kids are immersed in such positive, attainable learning, only good things can happen—not only in math, but also in life.