As they quietly file into a classroom on AU’s East Campus on a recent Thursday evening, the 20 youngsters enrolled in DC Math Circle, a free, weekly program for high-achieving fourth through eighth graders, run since 2017 by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, are oddly reserved, even shy.
But minutes later, the room grows exponentially louder as the students enthusiastically call out answers and excitedly scribble long division problems in an explosion of blue, red, and green dry-erase markers.
The difference from one moment to the next? It’s Mathemagic.
The sorcery begins when Hurst senior professorial lecturer Michael Limarzi, donning a wizard’s hat, writes a large number on a white board. “If I ask if this is divisible by 7 or 17 or 177, it would be hard to do just by looking at it, right?” he asks. “That is, unless you are a math magician.”
And with that, the sorcerer’s apprentices happily plug away for an hour on everything from long division to multiplication. Inspired by the Eastern European problem-solving approach to math education, DC Math Circle’s formula for success includes discussion, hands-on discovery, and collaboration with math-minded peers.
The high level of engagement “is the best thing ever for a teacher,” says AU math professor Jeff Adler, who runs DC Math Circle alongside senior professorial math lecturers Donna Dietz and Michael Keynes. “We could say it’s because we’re all wonderful teachers—but the real reason is that the kids want to be here.”
Among those high achievers: Cary Deahl, a fourth grader at DC public school Lafayette Elementary.
“They bring in new speakers every week to introduce the kids to fairly advanced concepts, but explain them in ways that are accessible, interactive, and engaging,” says Cary’s father, Josh Deahl. “Cary is gifted in math, but DC Math Circle offers a truly invaluable service in helping to keep that fire burning within him.”
DC Math Circle is a nice change of pace for professors too, who relish working with the younger set. “If you like math—and a small minority of kids do—this is fun because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Adler says, “but you can work it out.”