Partnership with The Calculus Project gives Boston students confidence with math

TCP was formed in 2009 and offers summer math prep courses to students in grades 8-12, which helps give participants a foundation of skills and confidence to succeed in advanced math courses like AP Calculus. Nationwide, students who identify as Black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC) or are low-income students have historically had a lack of access to calculus courses – and completing advanced math courses has a greater influence on whether or not students will graduate from college than any other factor, according to TCP.

Playing a part in a national initiative such as this shows our commitment to our students in Massachusetts, said Emmanuel’s Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion/Chief Diversity Officer, Keith Lezama ’07. “It’s a way to connect with students, bring them to campus, and show them that Emmanuel is a viable post-secondary option,” Dr. Lezama added. “By building these relationships with The Calculus Project and their students, we position Emmanuel as a strong choice when they begin applying to college.”

The program included students from 13 districts across Massachusetts who spent six weeks on Emmanuel’s campus. 

Founder and Executive Director of TCP, Dr. Adrian Mims Sr., said partnering with the College is always a good experience for the nonprofit and for the students – who get to take advantage of Emmanuel’s unique campus with plenty of green space.

The main aim of the work, Dr. Mims said, “is giving them confidence in math – and so students are not fearing math when they leave.” It also provides additional historical perspectives that students don’t receive in school, incorporating STEM professionals of color and showing students professionals who look like them and their contributions to the STEM field.

A multi-faceted partnership

The collaboration between TCP, Emmanuel College and its Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion went beyond simply hosting the program. The mutually beneficial partnership included Emmanuel students who taught TCP program courses. The College’s math department and TCP worked together to offer a one-week math prep course to incoming students, and Emmanuel’s Office of the Registrar worked directly with the parents of TCP program students as well.

The teaching experience was great practice for both Kyle Antoine ’24 G’25, a current M.Ed. student, in education student, and Oscar Cabral ’26, a secondary education history major. 

“It was a pretty perfect opportunity,” said Antoine, who marked his second year involved in TCP on campus. This time, after graduating from the College in May, Antoine got added practice teaching 9th graders as part of the valuable experience.

For Cabral, it was the first time he got to work with that age group, and as a teaching assistant, he got practice with one-on-one tutoring for the students. They both learned a lot of the practical aspects of teaching too – like scheduling the days to keep students engaged and managing their individual progress.

“[We] want to make sure students with a higher skill level aren’t bored because they finish early and also want to make sure a student that is struggling isn’t discouraged,” Antoine said.

Despite it being a summer math program, Antoine said TCP participants still get into the material and come out of the program having realized results. For him that’s crucial, because as an educator he said he wants to be able to show students the value and fun that can come with learning.

Strong results for Boston and Emmanuel students

TCP students ages 14-21 had a chance to take the same statistics course that Emmanuel students take, ahead of transitioning to college. “It’s such a big deal for them,” Dr. Mims said, “it makes them more competitive when applying for college.”

Chief Program Officer at TCP, Spencer Blasdale, echoed that the nonprofit loves partnering with Emmanuel College. He gave credit to Emmanuel’s Registrar Kimberly Camasso and her office for how well they’ve worked with parents and helped them understand how beneficial the summer program is for their children.

“It gives [students] the responsibility and independence for their grade, as well as a taste of the college experience,” Blasdale said.

TCP data shows that students have much higher pass rates after being involved in the program – the idea being that the skills they practice over the summer will equip them to return to school in the fall and get an A or B in their math courses, he added.

Alongside Dr. Mims, Emmanuel’s professors from the Department of Mathematics also developed a one-week curriculum prep class, called EC Bridge, to help prepare incoming students to pass their math placement test. After taking the prep course, the students’ median score increased by 50 percent.

Associate Professor of Mathematics and Chair of the Department Dr. Benjamin Allen said the value of the program was not only teaching students the fundamentals, but providing them with the confidence that they can succeed in their math courses. “I also think the students were champions for coming in the last week of summer to do something that was difficult for them and giving it their all,” Dr. Allen said.

According to student survey feedback, 100 percent of the students said they would recommend it to other students, and felt the course increased their interest in the subject matter.