MOUNT VERNON — As the May primary approaches, community members are being asked to approve levies and issues which affect their pocketbooks or wallets. Beginning April 1, they will have the chance, “American Idol” style, to vote for something which will help all of the county schools and cost the voters nothing.

Knox County teachers of grades kindergarten through three recently completed professional development classes called IMPACT — Improving Mathematical Practices and Classroom Teaching — and learning math has become more comfortable and fun for pupils.
“The teachers and administrators have given the program high praises,” said Cynthia Stuart, Knox County Educational Service Center consultant, “and they have seen improvement in the students’ math skills.”

Trina Shrimplin, third-grade teacher at Fredericktown Elementary concurred.

“[IMPACT] was well worth the time and effort for professional development,” she said, “and I would highly recommend this course to other primary teachers. For one thing, it reminds me of how very important it is to give students opportunities to explore hands-on activities for learning the most basic math concepts and computations to more higher level problem solving strategies.