A student at Minden High School not only scored an Advanced on his LEAP 2025 Algebra I State Exam but also achieved a perfect score of 850, something his teacher had not even thought was possible. Eythan Gorum took Algebra I for 18 weeks, preparing to demonstrate his mathematical knowledge on the state exam in May. He not only passed but excelled at the highest level.
His teacher, Haynes Mandino, had high praise for Gorum, saying, “Eythan is a super intelligent young man who absorbs information like a sponge. I expect we will see many great things from Eythan in the coming years.”
Many students enter a math class with the belief that they can’t do it just because it’s math, and MHS is determined that every student, regardless of their achievement level, leaves math class knowing that they can. Minden High’s math department has been working to improve students’ depth of knowledge in all areas of math, starting with a strong foundation in Algebra I.
“Math is a compounding subject; it builds on itself from topic to topic and from subject to subject. We want to make sure students are getting a strong foundation in Algebra I so that they can excel as they progress through high school and into college or the workforce.” – Mandino
Minden has seen significant growth in Algebra I scores this year, with around 75% of the students improving their scores from 8th grade, and students averaging an improvement of around 18 points. Some students have even increased their score by upwards of 30-40 points. Mandino attributes the improvements to a combination of great teachers and great students.
“We have some really good teachers here at the high school who want to see students succeed. We all bounce ideas off each other and work collaboratively to find new ways for students to achieve mastery. It is a balance of “old school” and “new school”. I want students to get outside sometimes and move around, as we did when we launched golf balls on the football field this year. At other times, they need to sit down and take notes. They need to learn how to read a tape measure, how to convert units, and learn how to solve for x. We want students to know that having strong math skills can open a lot of doors for their careers after high school, from construction to finance to engineering and everything in between.” – Mandino