Brianna Vasquez is a 13-year-old about to begin her 8th-grade year at Rolling Hills Middle School.
As the days of her summer vacation wane and the academic year looms, many of her friends are enjoying their break.
But on Thursday, Brianna was taking a different path. She was one of 90 students enrolled in the Bruce W. Woolpert Algebra Academy at Graniterock’s Watsonville headquarters, a weeklong mathematics extravaganza designed to give young people entering eighth grade a running start to higher math classes.
She says she enjoys the challenges math gives her.
And brushing up on equations and formulae was not her only motive for devoting a week of her precious break.
“I really like math, and I think it’s something that will help me for my future, especially to get into a good college,” she says. “It’s just fun.”
Arturo Ledesma, who will also be entering his 8th grade year, says he likes math, and had high praise for the program’s instructors.
“And some of my friends are here, which helps,” he said. “My other friends think it’s cool that I’m here while they’re on summer vacation. I’m glad I made this choice.”
Now in its 15th year, the program was the brainchild of former Graniterock CEO Bruce Woolpert, who said he was inspired by seeing numerous high school graduates enrolled in remedial math classes in college. Woolpert was killed in 2012 in a boating accident.
Professors from UC Santa Cruz and CSU Monterey Bay teach the courses, aided by their students.
The program shifted to an online model during the Covid pandemic, but is now larger than ever, with students from five school districts taking the program at Graniterock’s corporate headquarters, as well as at Driscoll’s berry company and at Joby Aviation.
The students enroll in the program after their teachers recommend them. It is designed for students already excelling in math courses, says program director Christy Sessions.
“Our goal is to help kids doing well in math really get an extra opportunity and an extra push to excel even more than what they already have,” she says.
Joana Rubio, 22, came to the program as an E.A. Hall Middle School student and returned as a Watsonville High School junior to be a paid mentor. She is now studying civil engineering and math at Cabrillo, and intends to transfer to a four-year university.”
If she tires in her civil engineering career, she intends to become a math teacher.
“I’m passionate about math and I like helping people out in math,” Rubio said.
