MaThCliX Story and Vision-
On October 28, 2014, I had the opportunity to speak at career day at Woodstock Middle School and E.T.Booth Middle School, both in Woodstock, GA. Thanks to the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, I was honored to be a part of this special day and share my love and passion for mathematics, learning, and business with so many young minds. I spoke to 12 different groups of 8th grade students throughout the entire day and basically gave the same presentation each time. I had it down by the end of the day!
I shared with the students my story and how MaThCliX came to existence. The name “MaThCliX” came about around the year 2000, when I was an undergraduate math student at Georgia State University. As a college student, I did a lot of tutoring and would always hear people making comments like, “I’m just not good at math”, “My parents weren’t good at math”, “I never really understood math”, “I had a bad teacher and could never get math to make sense”, etc. I realized quickly that there was a large amount of the population who just had this fixed “attitude” toward math. I knew that these things were things that could be remedied, if only math were taught in a manner that each student understood and if the student practiced math correctly. It then became my thought that I wanted to make math “click” for others.
Another play on the word “click” comes in the version of “clique”. At the university, the math majors tended to stick to together and I guess you could say we formed a “math clique” as we worked intensely to study and prepare for exams, learn and understand proofs, and work countless math problems.
So, why the capital M, T, C, and X? Why Clix and not clicks or cliques? Well, I chose to use clix because it seemed to be a fusion of the two and is shorter and a bit catchier. The M is capitalized because it is the name, the T is for my name, Tracy, the C is for my first daughter, Carlie, and X is for the most popular math variable, X! It may sound complicated but I thought it gave the name a “cooler” look and if it were to be on signs, t-shirts, brochures, etc., I wanted it to look appealing.
So why the two slogans “A place where students DO math” and “Math Problems Solved”?
I wanted MaThCliX to be a place where all students can come and be part of a math family, if you will. I wanted to create a math home. A place where students can come and have their math needs met, whether it be working on homework, skill building, enhancing understanding, etc., all of which enable students to eventually DO math. I follow the counsel of Maria Montessori who said, “The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, the children are now working as if I did not exist.” This is when I know that students are “doing” math.
What is your math problem? For some it may be a failing grade, for some it may be a gap in learning, or some may literally be stuck on solving a math homework problem. Whatever the “problem” may be, MaThCliX is a place where any student’s math problem can be solved! I want everyone who walks through our door to feel comfortable, welcome, and at home and when they leave I want them to feel that their time was well-spent, their minds were enlightened, that the math “clicked”, and they are one step closer to their academic goals and on their way to success in the classroom and the world. I want our students to feel proud and happy to be part of MaThCliX, or our “math clique”.
I invite all students to come an experience MaThCliX!