Math Game Puts Tuolumne Students At The Top

Sonora, CA — Several schools in Tuolumne County are having their students try out a new program online to help students learn Common Core math standards in a fun way. Front Row is the name of the program, and it is currently running a competition between thousands of school districts called the Amazing Front Row Race. Michelle Alberto, a 7th grade teacher at Sonora Elementary, says a week and a half ago she was told that Sonora Elementary school was winning, nationally. Alberto says her students started using the program in November.

There are over 1,344 school districts in Front Row’s race. Students earn coins on Front row for completing math problems. As part of the game, students can use coin rewards for completing tasks to dress up a pig. The race uses an average number of coins earned by each school in a district to calculate who is winning.

This is the third race the company, based out of San Francisco, has held to promote the program, and to get more students involved. Front Row’s website claims that 1 in 5 Elementary Schools in the U.S. use it.  Sonora Elementary has currently slipped to second place, with a Michigan school district in first place. All but five states are represented in the small school district category. Columbia Elementary is in 6th place, Soulsbyville is in 23rd place.

The program is free and available to teachers to offer their students. Alberto says Front Row is working well and her kids enjoy it. She noted the program is especially helpful for the older students who have been transitioned to Common Core Standards. The program helps them learn the basic Common Core requirements they were not taught in previous grades because of the switch.