Custodian at Weiser elementary school pays for pizza party if students ace test

By: 
Steve Lyon

Now in its second year, custodian Mike Thatcher is once again sponsoring his math challenge at Pioneer Elementary School and will pay for a pizza party for all third graders who ace the final test.
 Thatcher came up with the challenge last year after talking to third grade teachers about things he could do to help motivate kids to do better in school.
 They suggested that third grade students needed to improve their speed with multiplication facts, so he came up with the challenge.
 Thatcher knew some students were having difficulty learning math. He wanted to do something to get kids to do better and also wanted to reward them for their effort.
 “I thought, maybe if I challenge the kids to do this it’s not coming from a teacher and it might be different. So I ran it by Mrs. Courtois. She has been very helpful putting this all together,” Thatcher said. “It has been a team effort with all the teachers.”
 The Thatcher Math Challenge is only for third graders at the school. In that grade they are learning their math facts and memorizing multiplication tables.
 Thatcher said he couldn’t favor one class at the school over another so he extended the challenge to all third graders.
 “I needed to be fair to the whole third grade,” he said.
 The challenge started the first week of March. The students have taken a couple of practice tests. They took home worksheets during spring break to brush up on multiplication for the final test coming up on April 17.
 “There is not enough time to do this inclass, so they have to work on this on their own,” Thatcher said.
 The test will consist of 100 short multiplication problems with a time limit of five minutes. No dawdling is allowed as students will have about three seconds to answer each question.
 Those that score 100 percent and master the math challenge will get an invitation to the all-you-can-eat pizza party that Thatcher is paying for on April 19.
 The math challenge has been improved since last year. Third graders get an extra minute to complete the 100-question test. Last year they only had four minutes, a real rush to finish.
 Adding another minute will take a little of the pressure off students and likely improve the success rate. About 20 percent of third-graders scored 100 percent last year.
 “It was put together really quick last year and we learned some stuff. We figured some things out,” Thatcher said. “It was a little tougher last year.”
 Third grade teacher Kaeyla Petero said students know about the math challenge and can’t wait to take the final challenge test next week.
 For practice, she times her students for two minutes and gives them a short break before completing the final three minutes of the test.
 Pioneer principal Wade Wilson said Thatcher’s Challenge is a great initiative that gets third-graders excited about learning math.
 “This is really neat, and a great example of something that one person has taken on in our school to help support children,” Wilson said.
 On April 19, the third-graders who scored 100 on the test will get all the pizza they can eat. A special table in the lunchroom will be set up just for them.
 Thatcher said he came up with pizza as the prize for the students who pass the test.
 “What kid doesn’t want a pizza party?”

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