Linderman students attend math “boot camp”

Making her way through the line, Greta Lund showed staff and volunteers a card filled with ingredients for an ice cream sundae.

The third grader at Linderman Elementary explained that she learned her multiplication tables to be able to build a complete sundae.

“I just kept practicing them and practicing them, until I got them memorized,” Lund explained.

Once the time came to apply what she remembered, she said she “just knew” the answers.

Lund said that while she likes math, she enjoys reading and art, too.

Friday marked the end of the multiplication unit of math studies for 150 third grade students, teacher Darcie Laud said.

“We hold a boot camp for fact recognition,” she said, adding that the ice cream social is an opportunity for the students to “showcase” what they’ve learned.

During “Multiplication Boot Camp” at Linderman Elementary in Polson last Thursday, students and teachers dress up in a military theme that differs each day.

The weeklong event is intended to make learning math a little more fun and interesting.

Students are responding to the program with enthusiasm, Laud said.

They receive “brag tags,” similar to military dog tags. Each tag represents a denomination of multiplication tables the students memorized.

Once they memorized a table, they were able to earn a fixing for an ice cream sundae.

At the end of the boot camp, each student received a “diploma” signed by their “drill sergeant,” or homeroom teacher.

Last week marked the second year of what Laud said is intended to be an annual event.

Speaking to the students was Sgt. First Class Shawn Burland, son of Laud’s classroom’s “foster grandparent” Robin Burland.

He spoke briefly about discipline and answered questions students had, mostly of which were about his decorated uniform.