“Sometimes students are so attached to the traditional, mainstream ‘core curriculum’—and advancing as far and as fast along this curriculum as possible—that they miss out on the opportunity to explore,” says Math Teacher Eric Henry. He urges Concord Academy students to consider our range of math electives, full of exploratory vigor. In those courses, students may venture into diverse topics, beyond the typical approach.
Exploration is the spirit of Jodi Pickle’s Math Modeling class. Math modeling can further students’ knowledge in practically any area they are interested in, whether it is music, fashion, linguistics, fractal geometry, or 3-D printing. In this course, students are free to delve deeper into their own questions and grapple with new ideas. Just like scientists or pioneers in areas unknown to humanity, no one has the answer for students in this class. Instead, they get to own their answer in a different way. “That takes guts,” said Pickle.
Participating in Math Modeling helped Malik Traore ’25 shift his perspective on mathematics. “Math isn’t as linear as I thought it was. There are a lot more ways to look at it, and it doesn’t have to be so standardized,” he said. For his final project, Malik coded an interactive model for an ecosystem. The course gave him a sense of agency, and he found the broad, real-world application of math to be a valuable addition to his learning.
Sometimes, students for whom traditional math courses have not worked can find their spark in electives. Ripley Bright ’25 was diagnosed with Dyscalculia in fourth grade. Though they have tried to push themself in math, their early experience with it was filled with frustration and disappointment. They did not imagine themself enjoying the subject at all, until this year, when they took Discrete Math and Math of Social Justice. Whereas working with numbers had been difficult for them, building a physical calculator in Discrete Math was a delightful experience. “It was really helpful to use my hands and actually see the math being built in front of me,” said Ripley. They were inspired by the course’s applicability to life. “I’m not actually bad at math, I just have to think about it a little differently from everyone else,” Ripley realized.
Indeed, many of the core math courses make the assumption that all students are headed for Calculus and beyond, which is not actually true. Many students go on to pursue other interests and talents. “It would be unfortunate if they could never have the opportunity to see the power of math in explaining the world around us,” says George Larivee, who teaches Discrete Math.
Math teacher Desiree Sheff centers her Math of Social Justice class around “data storytelling.” Just like math is not only about numbers, statistics is not only about trends and information—it is the story of humans, each data point being a real individual. Amidst analyzing data on deaths of undocumented migrants, the class watched a documentary and followed the story of one such migrant who started in El Salvador and ended up dying in the Arizona Desert. Through that lens, the simple logs of “place and time of death” and “reason of death” expanded to contain souls. “It was very sobering information,” said Ripley. Sheff hopes that in this class, math opens the door for difficult but important conversations.
Jacob Himelfarb ’26 took Shawn Bartok’s elective, Game Theory, this past fall, which explores the intersection between math and two subjects he loves: social science and politics. Game Theory seeks to mathematically prove the best move in situations, from children’s games to political competitions. It not only explains worldwide conflicts, but also helps with their resolution. Students examined real-world issues such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and Israel-Palestine relations, compared voting systems, and considered questions like “what is democracy from a mathematical perspective?” Jacob thinks that, as citizens of the US, we have a responsibility to learn about how math applies to politics and global phenomena. Mathematics Department Head Jessica Kuh commented, “It's especially relevant in this fraught political moment.”
“The [math] electives are definitely not talked about enough. It’s a really cool opportunity,” said Malik. Over the years, students have loved the creative energy and encouraging atmosphere of the electives. “They give you a new perspective on math—that there’s so many different ways that math can be interpreted and it shows up in way more places of the world than I thought,” says Ripley. For students choosing between a math elective and a more traditional course, the elective will likely offer a surprising—and rewarding—change.