Math professor Idris Stovall is on a mission to make math accessible to "anyone everywhere," and he is starting in West Philadelphia.
As the professor of Math 123, a math-based community-service class, Stovall leads about 20 students into West Philadelphia each week to teach two separate geometry classes.
The program is in its fourth year, but this is Stovall's first semester leading it.
The Penn students supplement University City High School's regular geometry instruction by conducting labs designed to give the students a different perspective on the applications of math.
"In labs, we've examined the geometric reason for why there are ... tectonic plates underneath the earth's surface," Stovall said. "It's supposed to be very interactive."
When they are not in West Philadelphia classrooms, Stovall meets with his students to discuss educational issues ranging from No Child Left Behind to new approaches to learning.
College junior Jarryd Haynes, who is enrolled in the class, said that he and his peers aim to apply the issues discussed in the class to their teachings at University City High School.
"People in Math 123 talk about math phobia and feeling lost in math classes at Penn," Haynes said.
Haynes said he originally signed up because he wanted an original urban educational experience.
"I wanted to get out of the traditional classes at Penn and go out into the community," Haynes said.
Engineering junior Dhinakaran Chinappen said the opportunity to interact with the University City High students was his reason for signing up for the class.
"To go down to the high school being an international student with a thick accent and be considered cool by the kids and be accepted into their group," was the biggest challenge, he said.
Stovall hopes that the class will help math stop getting what he termed the "short end of the societal stick."
"My personal mission is to make math doable by anyone everywhere," Stovall said. "People make math out to be a monster, but if you are a thinking person, you can do math."
Stovall said he hopes that interest in the course will continue to grow -- this semester alone the program has doubled in size -- and he plans to draw heavily from the input of his students.
"I consider the students partners," Stovall said. "We are all going over there to implement systemic change, and Penn students design the math based on the group they interact with."
And from students' opinions of Stovall, it seems like he might just be able to do it.
"He is not just one of the most personable teachers but [one of the most personable] people I've met at Penn," Haynes said.
