(Garland ISD) June 28, 2012 – This fall, Rene Aguilar will enter fifth grade at Bullock Elementary School in Garland with more than pencils and a backpack. He’ll be toting a $5,000 college scholarship that he earned over the summer, just by “DU-ing” what he loves.
Aguilar was the youngest of 32 competitors who qualified for the DU the Math Video Tournament Finals and Music Festival on June 16 in New York City. The finalists came from across the United States to compete face-to-face for $40,000 in scholarships.
Aguilar placed second in the finals (first runner-up), just behind the first place finisher – a seventh grader from Escambia County Schools in Pensacola, Florida.
Teen music sensations Mindless Behavior and Greyson Chance turned up the volume on the event finals with performances throughout the day.
The video game tournament supported DimensionU’s mission to unlock students’ learning potential by making math fun and getting kids (grades 3-9) more engaged in the subject. This lofty goal is achieved by challenging kids with core math questions as they navigate fun, multi-player adventure games and by enlisting the support of aspirational teens who impart the importance of learning math to students.
Each finalist earned their seat at the table by finishing as one of the top three players nationwide in any one of the tournament’s five weekly challenges (April 9 – May 13). These players are the cream of a large crop that included players from over 30 states nationwide who contributed to over 3.25MM minutes of educational gameplay throughout the virtual tournament.
Bullock Elementary took part along with more than 900 others schools, ranking in the top 10 during all five weeks of the tournament. In the third week, Bullock Elementary took the top three spot, surpassing middle and high schools. Fourteen of the tournament’s top 50 competitors were from Bullock Elementary.
Perhaps that’s because Stacy McGough’s fourth grade students at Bullock put in almost 700 hours working on their math skills.
“I was so excited when I found out that one of my students qualified for the finals,” said McGough. “All of our students worked so hard and achieved so much. We are very proud of them. Seeing Rene take second place and earn a scholarship is wonderful.”
Rene and his classmates are sure to return to class with a new appreciation and excitement for math, after sharpening their skills in the DU the Math video game tournament.
About DimensionU
DimensionU founder and CEO, Nt Etuk, points out that the US ranks 25th among 34 peers of industrialized nations in mathematics. He believes catching up is vital to the national interest and can be achieved through fun and educational video games. Gaming immerses kids in learning and creates an environment where it’s safe to fail and try again making games the ideal learning platform for mathematics.
DimensionU’s mission is to unlock students’ potential and spearhead the road map for digital education. A proven success since 2007, the company’s educational video games have been made available to more than 850,000 students in over 75 school districts across the country including New York Public Schools, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and Dallas Independent School District, to name a few. The content has been carefully honed to align to the new “Common Core State Standards,” the standards of all 50 states and dozens of the most popular textbooks, so parents and teachers can be sure kids are learning what they will need to excel in school and beyond.
DimensionU is supported across the country by teachers as a tool that has the perfect balance of entertainment and education. Independent university studies have found that playing DimensionU increases scores for most (80 percent) students and, in some cases, by as much as two letter grades (20 percent pre/post test score increases).
By Dawn Redig, Blue Ribbon News. Thanks to Stacy McGough, Bullock Elementary teacher, and Steven Hoy, DimensionU, for contributing to this story.
To submit your news and events, email editor@BlueRibbonNews.com.
Garland ISD student earns scholarship in ‘DU the Math’ video game tournament added by Editor on
View all posts by Editor →