Making a model of Math Corps
Math Corps, founded in 1991, is a combined academic and mentoring program for Detroit public school students in grades 6-12. It features a summer camp, year-round Saturday programs, and enrichment courses for elementary school children. In addition to math, it also focuses on life skills, said Executive Director Steven Kahn. WSU Math Corps, which is attracting national and international attention, is spinning off from the university as it begins to expand to new sites.
The program is heading into DPS middle schools in the coming academic year through a new pilot with the district, other states with a $3 million National Sciences Foundation grant and possibly the West African countries of Ghana and Nigeria, which have been benchmarking it. It's a story not often told: a Detroit nonprofit exporting an impactful program. But the program hasn't spread in Detroit beyond the approximately 3,000 students who've come through over its 26-year-history.