Worcester, MA --- On Tuesday, January 7, the Worcester State women’s basketball team hosted their annual “Math Madness Day” in conjunction with their regularly scheduled game against Keene State College.

The event, which was held at WPI’s Harrington Auditorium, is designed to engage local elementary school students in solving problems from grade appropriate math packets related to players statistics, scores and averages.

In attendance at the game were approximately 300 students from the Chandler Magnet School, the Tatnuck Magnet School and the May Street School.

“All three schools that came enjoyed their experience at the basketball game,” said Worcester State head women’s basketball coach Karen Tessmer. “They especially enjoyed the chance to measure the dimensions of the court during halftime and meeting the teams afterwards.”

Immediately following the conclusion of the contest, both teams participated in a meet and greet where students had the opportunity to get signatures from the players.

“It’s my favorite game of the year,” said senior Emily Barrett. “The kids look up to you and think they are watching professional basketball. They treat it like it’s an NBA game.

“With the kids in the stands, it’s a completely different atmosphere. It doesn’t matter whether you’re winning or losing, the kids are fired up either way and it’s nice to play in front of a crowd like that.”

As an Elementary Education major, Barrett relished the opportunity in assisting the students during halftime as they measured things like the distance of the free throw line to the base line, the circumference of a basketball and the height of the basket to the floor. Students even pulled out the tape to get the length of Barrett’s arms.

“It was really cool helping them try to figure out the math problems that they had to solve or pointing out where the three-point line was,” said Barrett. “I love helping kids learn about mathematics and basketball on and off the court.”

This year marked the sixth time that the women’s basketball team hosted “Math Madness” since the 2008-09 season.

“In February, we are going to go back to two of the elementary schools and do a question and answer session with the students,” said Tessmer. “It’s great that we have been able to build on our partnership with the area schools near Worcester State.”

Game Recap With Additional Photos

Top Photo - Senior Michel'le St. Pierre Assists With Finding Out The Distance Of The Free Throw Line To The Hoop For "Math Madness."

Bottom Photo 1 - Senior Emily Barrett Puts Out Her Arms As Students Measure The Length

Bottom Photo 2 - Students Measure The Length Of Basketball To The Floor During Halftime Of "Math Madness"

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