A small Napa school of just 550 students beat out more than a thousand of other Bay Area schools in the first cup of the educational nonprofit Khan Academy’s “LearnStorm.”
The free nine-week online math challenge is designed to reward mastery, and the “hustle” it takes to try and try again to get the answer right.
It is in the hustle category that Napa’s Phillips Elementary school came out on top. According to the Napa Valley Unified School District, 65 percent of the students are English language learners and 82 percent come from challenged socio-economic backgrounds. And yet, Phillips’ students finished in first place on the leaderboard for hustle in the first of three cups or phases of the challenge. And, illustrating that it is by trying that students learn, they came in 10th on the mastery side too.
Sixth-grader Sarai Lopez said, “My heart started beating really fast, then I heard my name.”
Sarai is celebrating a personal victory as well: she was among the top points-earners in her grade.
The Mountain View-based Khan Academy calls “Learn Storm” a math and mindset development program. As you might expect, the leaders in the mastery category are historically better funded and higher performing. But with the mastery category, smaller schools with fewer resources are elevated too.
“This is meant to reward the students who are taking on the challenge, trying a new skill,” said Margaret Watson of Khan Academy. One of the strategies to teach the students to stop saying “I can’t” and start saying “I can’t… yet.”
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Khan Academy can’t say how many students and schools are participating in the 2016 challenge because it continues until April 1. But, in the 2015 pilot year, more than 72,000 students and more than 1,500 schools participated throughout the Bay Area. Schools in Chicago, Idaho and Ireland are also participating in “Learn Storm.”
Students from 3rd through 12th grade can access “Learn Storm” curriculum wherever they get online. It is designed to be adaptive: to meet students where they are, reinforce what they know and then introduce the next concept when they’re ready.
Technology teacher Jennifer Ellison stumbled upon “Learn Storm” in its pilot year, as she was looked to Khan Academy to find a way to teach coding to her students. She said, “I want them to be able to code so they can make money and pay for their college education.”
Ellison adds that she never imagined how “Learn Storm” would take off at her school. Her boss, principal Matt Manning told the students at an assembly in their honor, “Not only are we, your teachers, so proud of you, but when you do good work and you work really hard and you meet successes, the world notices.”
Phillips Elementary now holds a shiny silver Cup for hustle, the first of three to be awarded in the 2016. The students aren’t ready to sit back and relax.
Fifth-grader Jesus Limones said, “We’re going to keep on going until we get the second cup.”
Here are the full leaderboards for hustle and for mastery.
Khan Academy “LearnStorm”:
Hustle Leaderboard, Cup 1
1. Phillips Elementary School, Napa
2. Newark Junior High School, Newark
3. Bay Area Technology School, Oakland
4. Oakland Unity High School, Oakland
5. Summit Denali School, Sunnyvale
6. KIPP Heartwood Academy, San Jose
7. Cordelia Hills Elementary School, Fairfield
8. Redwood Middle School, Saratoga
9. Homestead High School, Cupertino
10. Madison Park Academy, Oakland
Mastery Leaderboard, Cup 1
1. Bel Aire Elementary School, Tiburon
2. Gilroy High School, Gilroy
3. Public Safety Academy, Fairfield
4. Redwood Middle School, Saratoga
5. C. T. English Middle School, Los Gatos
6. American Canyon Middle School, American Canyon
7. Newark Junior High School, Newark
8. Valley Christian Junior High School, San Jose
9. Centerville Junior High, Fremont
10. Phillips Elementary School, Napa
Mastery Total Points Leaderboard, Cup 2
1. South Valley Middle School, Gilroy
2. Gilroy High School, Gilroy
3. Redwood Middle School, Saratoga
4. Public Safety Academy, Fairfield
5. Christopher High School, Fairfield
Hustle Total Points Leaderboard, Cup 2
1. Phillips Elementary School, Napa
2. Grange Middle School, Fairfield
3. South Valley Middle School, Gilroy
4. Bay Area Technology School, Oakland
5. Joseph Weller Elementary School, Milpitas
Mastery Points Per Eligible Student Leaderboard, Cup 2
1. C. T. English Middle School, Los Gatos
2. August Schilling Elementary School, Newark
3. John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Newark
4. KIPP Excelencia Community Prep, Redwood City
5. South Valley Middle School, Gilroy
Hustle Points Per Eligible Student Leaderboard, Cup 2
1. De Marillac Academy, San Francisco
2. Phillips Elementary School, Napa
3. Joseph Weller Elementary School, Milpitas
4. Bay Area Technology School, Oakland
5. C. T. English Middle School, Los Gatos
Mastery Total Points Leaderboard, Cup 3
1. Gilroy High School, Gilroy
2. South Valley Middle School, Gilroy
3. Redwood Middle School, Saratoga
4. Christopher High School, Gilroy
5. Grange Middle School, Fairfield
Hustle Total Points Leaderboard, Cup 3
1. South Valley Middle School, Gilroy
2. Grange Middle School, Fairfield
3. Joseph Weller Elementary School, Milpitas
4. Summit Public School: Denali, Sunnyvale
5. Bay Area Technology School, Oakland
Mastery Points Per Eligible Student Leaderboard, Cup 3
1. Arundel Elementary School, San Carlos
2. C. T. English Middle School, Los Gatos
3. Fairwood Elementary School, Sunnyvale
4. Lincoln Elementary School, Richmond
5. Stevenson Elementary School, Mountain View
Hustle Points Per Eligible Student Leaderboard, Cup 3
1. Joseph Weller Elementary School, Milpitas
2. Bay Area Technology School, Oakland
3. Summit Public School: Denali, Sunnyvale
4. St. Joseph Elementary School, Pinole
5. St. Joseph of Cupertino Elementary School, Cupertino
For more information about Khan Academy: www.khanacademy.org
For more information about Learn Storm: www.learnstorm2016.org
