Testimonials
“My team yelled 'It was fun!!!' after they finished the competition.”
“I know and love the feeling of adrenaline. As a competitive swimmer, I've been exposed to the thrill of having to accomplish something with a time constraint. During the GAIM competition (my favorite part of the whole program) I definitely felt that thrill. For the competition, it seemed like all the members on my team sprung into action -- and any residual awkwardness from our past practies kind of seemed to fade away as we attatcked the math problems. Our communication definitely improved, and we worked together, and I regard it as a fun two hours. (BTW, I can't really remember the last time I thought of a math-oriented event as 'fun' so extra points for GAIM).“
“This is a great team and confidence-building exercise for girls, and helps them to prepare for even more challenging competitions.”
”A 4th grade student who is new to both GAIM and our school this year participated in GAIM. At her old school there was a prevailing cloud over their math program that was fed by both students and teachers (yuck!) that girls were not good at math. This student really internalized that and thought that she did not have a place in math.
“At our school, students of all genders tend to love math (we are so lucky!). This student was encouraged by her peers to join GAIM and reluctantly agreed. By the end of the ~10 weeks of practices, this student LOVED GAIM and her math confidence went through the roof. In conferences with her parents, her parents gave teary-eyed testimonials for how GAIM changed their daughter's life. She asks her teacher for more math work all the time and talks about how she wants to be a scientist now.”
“GAIM showed us what math could be beyond textbooks.”
“The girls loved the competition. By then they had overcome significant barriers to working together and to having confidence in their math abilities. Our first few practices were awkward and hard! But everyone was happily challenged and having fun at the end. Notably, many girls mentioned that they loved the team aspect of the competition. Less individual pressure and more social interactions made this a hugely positive experience in these times!”