MAD-news for December: A few gifts are coming your way...

Hi Guest,

We have some special gifts coming your way this holiday season! Unwrap the New MAD-learn when you return from break, apply for a MAD-learn grant if you aren’t currently using MAD-learn, and most of all, take a break and a breather! The MAD-learn offices will be closed from December 23 – January 3rd for us to do the same. We wish you a safe and warm and fulfilling end to 2022. See you in 2023!

Alefiya Master

Founder & CEO

During #CSEdWeek, the MAD-success team visited a number of classes, covering anything from app development kick-offs to sharing general information about MAD-learn and how students should consider careers in STEM fields like app development.

At the end of the week, Director of Curriculum and Implementation, Gregg Stone, had a special treat! He was invited to speak with a 1st grade class in Brooklyn, NY. that had been working on some pretty advanced coding activities for several weeks, lead by their teacher, Melissa Intogna. Their work included coding for robotics and 2-D drawing, and were done both on a computer and as unplugged activities.

Ms. Intogna’s class was enthusiastic, respectful, and proud of the work they had accomplished. Gregg had a unique opportunity to see examples of their work, congratulate them on their accomplishments, then relate what they had done to his role and a variety of opportunities in the world of app and web development.

Our Curriculum and Implementation Specialist, Alexandra Kummernes, had a wonderful time at DeKalb County’s STEAM Takeover event earlier this week. The goal of the event (organized by Andrea Wright, District STEM Coordinator and the CTAE Department) was to bring STEM and STEAM ideas and innovations to teachers across the district. MAD-learn was invited to share app development strategies with teachers and Alexandra had a blast meeting a whole group of DeKalb teachers, new to MAD-learn! We can’t wait to help them get APPing soon.

PS: We are also proud CTAE Advisory Council Members to the district and applaud the DeKalb County CTAE Department for the advisory board meeting information and updates shared earlier this week

Alefiya had the opportunity to keynote Newton County’s all-girls coding event last week which is aptly titled: InspiHER! This was such a fun keynote to present to the girls and we thoroughly enjoyed some hands-on sessions later that morning. Huge shoutout to Ijeoma Johnson and the whole planning committee for making this such a powerful event for students!

We are so thankful and impressed with the work of all our MAD-teachers. They all work tirelessly, not just to bring our program to their students, but to do the countless other things needed to ensure student success. We wanted to acknowledge three special partners who have continued to create magic for a number of years and honor them as our first ever MAD-teachers of the Year!

Amanda Bourn was first recognized as a MAD-teacher of the Month way back in the summer of 2019 and named a MAD-expert in December of the following year. Amanda began using MAD-learn in May of 2017 and has run the program successfully ever since. For all of the successes she and her students have realized, we are also impressed with the dedication she showed to keep things going, even as she was on maternity leave this past school year.

Amanda shared her thoughts about using MAD-learn, saying, “The MAD-learn platform truly embodies the goal of my Family and Consumer Science content area and our goal at Hawthorn District 73 (Chicago), which is to “inspire all students to embrace learning in an ever-changing world.”

When Lawanda Stephens-Sanford was recognized in the spring of 2021 at MAD-teacher of the Month, we wrote, “It has been said that the quality of a teacher is best measured by the outcomes realized by her students. Lawanda, from Arabian Mountain High School near Atlanta is a testament to this. We recently had the honor of serving on judging panels for a virtual set of Shark Tanks in which her students shared their work in an authentic ‘pitch’ situation.”

We continue to be impressed not only by the apps her students create, but by how they present themselves in such a professional manner. These qualities are part of what Lawanda expects of her students, beyond attention to working at their highest level.

Enthusiasm and true partnership epitomize Kimberly Epps, another MAD-expert who teaches in the Oceanside School District on Long Island. In a May 2021 blog, Kimberly talked at length about the value of MAD-learn. “As a mathematics teacher with several years of teaching experience, I have always made it my goal to explore the use of various tools that make learning fun for my students. One such educational tool is MAD-learn…” adding “In order for MAD- learn to impact my teaching, it had to first impact me and it did.”

She continued, “This program has all of the characteristics to help develop the character of a student. An app creator must be analytical, organized, create, communicate effectively, able to work in a team, and persevering. The biggest issue for students is developing creativity skills and patience planning their projects. They learn how and why planning is so important and learn to appreciate the process.”

Congratulations to our first ever MAD-teachers of the Year! We continue to cherish your efforts and support.

We want to thank schools that have either renewed their partnerships with MAD-learn or are just joining our MAD-family. We are so happy to know we will be continuing our work to help students at: