TUCSON, Ariz. -- The first clue that this isn't your average math class comes when instructor Skyler Shenk breaks out the violin and starts playing "Viva Mexico" in feisty, lilting mariachi strains, the students whooping and applauding the faster he goes.Musical scales are scribbled all over the chalkboard. The lessons are punctuated with melodies. And the word problems are less about finding where two people would meet if they left Las Vegas and St. Louis at different times driving different speeds than they are about divining the total number of beats you'd have if you were playing in three-quarter time and then subtracted a certain number of quarter notes.A few of these recent Tucson, Ariz., eighth-grade graduates shout out answers. Some of the more confident ones swoop in to help their more tentative classmates.If asked to name serendipitous pairings, such as wine and cheese or chocolate and peanut butter, mariachi and math might not immediately jump to mind.But it's working for 100 incoming high school freshmen who have volunteered to give up three weeks of their summer for an intensive program designed to give them a leg up on high school math."It makes it funner for us," said 13-year-old Daisy Arevalo, "In school, they just give us a paper and have us work on it. Here, they have more time to help us understand how to use what we're learning. I understand math way better now."It's all part of the national GEAR UP Project, a grant-funded program designed to prepare students in high-poverty middle and high schools for a successful college careerA number of studies have shown a strong link between academic success and musical training, but associate director Elizabeth Arnot-Hopffer said mariachi is a particularly strong bridge, culturally and academically. Not only does it offer the same math opportunities, it also serves as an impetus for family involvement.And, having sat through a number of middle school math classes in which students were nodding off or performing worksheet drills, she said tapping into their interests and making the subject relevant practically guarantees engagement.Analyzing math tests at the start and conclusion of the program, Arnot-Hopffer said 80 percent of students show some performance increase in just three weeks.The college-readiness program focuses strongly on math because freshman year can practically make or break the college track. With colleges requiring four years of math in high school, Arnot-Hopffer said, "if they don't pass Algebra 1 in ninth grade it's going to be very difficult to be college-ready."With the stakes so high, the program is rigorous and fast-paced. The students' first concert comes after only 10 days and even the newbies play. Students who don't know how to read music have to do a crash study to catch up with peers."One of the huge problems in the education system is that it waters down the curriculum too much for too long. It's amazing what these students can do if you expect them to do it," Arnot-Hopffer said.The curriculum, created by a University of Arizona planning team, meets state math standards, she stressed. In intensive training, teachers present their lessons to the team for assessment ranging from whether they included graphing in the lesson plan to how well they demonstrated the concept by using instruments to how extensive the math vocabulary is. A math doctoral candidate also assists with coaching.Michelle Cutright, a 14-year-old making the transition from middle school to high school, got a playful jab in the ribs from friend Anizza Bravo when she said she was "dumb" in math before the program. Revising her choice of words, she continued, "I didn't understand it before, but now it's pretty cool. I don't hate it anymore."Bravo, a violinist like Cutright, said it hasn't been a sacrifice to spend the full day in class, where they not only practice algebra, but also learn study skills and music theory."You get to chill with your friends and do something besides eating popcorn and watching TV," Bravo said, adding she gets exercise traipsing across the sprawling university campus, too.Clarissa Salazar, 14, hopes to take honors algebra her freshman year at Tucson High Magnet School. She was always decent in math, she said, but by working more with music, she feels increasingly grounded."Teachers should remember that students will learn if it makes sense to them and if it's fun," she said.(E-mail Rhonda Bodfield at rbodfield(at)azstarnet.com)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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