[Editor's note: The following

is the first in a series of monthly columns provided by the Fayette County

Board of Education. This month's columnist is Kay Seabolt, the math coordinator

for the Fayette County School System. She has been in education for 29

years. Her previous experience includes teaching math at the middle and

high school level and being an assistant principal at Fayette County High

School.]

The 2000-2001 academic year

was an exciting and busy one for the Fayette County School System's mathematics

department. We implemented several new programs into the mathematics curriculum,

which added to the quality of math instruction already being delivered

to our students. I would like to take this opportunity to recap some of

the new programs that were implemented as well as highlight something

new that will be offered this summer.

At the beginning of the calendar

year, we initiated the Extended Year Program (EYP) at the elementary,

middle and high school levels. Students who had been identified by their

teachers as needing extra help in math received free math assistance and

tutoring for one hour after school.

The first 30 minutes were devoted

to teaching the curriculum and the last half-hour was reserved for homework

or for additional reinforcement instruction. Teachers worked extra hours

in order to facilitate the program. Each session was limited to seven

to 10 students per teacher.

This program was well received

waiting list throughout the academic year.

In order to continue helping

our students achieve high academic levels in math, the EYP will run through

the summer in the form of a day camp. Students who participated in the

program during the school year have been invited to attend. Additional

participants have been identified by their teachers and given the choice

to take part in the program.

Elementary students will be

assigned to either Kedron or Fayetteville elementary school. All middle

school students will attend their sessions at Fayette Middle School. High

school students who failed the high school graduation test will receive

free mediation at Fayette County High School.

During the summer EYP session,

elementary and middle school teachers will be using a program called Summer

Success which was designed to be used for extra math help in the summer.

Other counties that have used the program have been very complimentary

about it and indicated that it raised test scores.

Also, all students will have

the opportunity to work with a variety of measurement and probability

tools since this is a weak area, as indicated by our test scores.

For the first time in the history

of the school system, there was a math contest at every elementary school

for students in grades 4 and 5. First-place winning teams from each school

advanced to compete in the countywide elementary math contest, another

first for the Fayette School System.

Prior to this year, mathematics

was the only discipline that did not have a county-level competition for

elementary school students.

The benefits of the county

competition were multifold for our students. First, it provided a forum

for students to display their knowledge and compete with others. Second,

the competition was a great way for teachers to review concepts with their

students and assist them in developing problem solving skills. Third,

the contest has the potential to help students perform better on standardized

testing, and fourth, it stimulated an interest in math.

We were very pleased with the

success our first contest and are continuing to look ahead to see how

we can enhance future competitions at the elementary level.

Finally, the long, but effective

process of textbook adoption has come to an end. A committee made up of

parents, teachers and school administrators reviewed the possible texts

available for adoption and gave their input as to which ones they thought

would be best for our students.

McGraw Hill was selected as

the choice for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and its secondary

counterpart Glencoe was chosen for most of the courses taught in middle

and high school. Students and teachers will begin using the new texts

when the 2001-2002 academic year begins on Aug. 10.

Even though the textbooks have

changed in Fayette County, the math curriculum has not. Whether it be

a first grade or advanced math teacher, he or she will be teaching the

objectives set forth by the Georgia Department of Education.

In turn, the statewide Georgian

Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) for grades 1-8 and the middle/high

school end-of-year tests are based on the Georgia Quality Core Curriculum

(QCC) objectives. Each teacher is responsible for helping students learn

the objectives and will use the adopted textbooks as one of many tools

to accomplish this.

[Kay Seabolt says the award

she is most proud of is being selected as a Star Teacher for the last

two years that she taught at Fayette County High. She is married to Larry

Seabolt, a civil engineer. They have two children: Kayla, who will be

a math teacher at Flat Rock Middle School next year, and Keelan, a junior

at Georgia Tech majoring in physics.]