More than 160 people and 55 families attended with activities including “Booling in the Graveyard,” “Candy Corn Catapults” and “Mon’Star Mask Making.”

Prospective math teachers from SUNY Fredonia created six activities that required families to apply their knowledge of math, science and engineering in creative ways. For example, the Witch Kitch Potion Predicament had families solve math questions in 30 seconds. For every correct answer, families could add an ingredient to their “potion.” When all the questions were answered, the potion that looked and tasted the best was declared the winner. Each math activity was interactive and used teamwork to help students and their families bond over math.

“From my perspective as a preparer of math and science educators, it’s imperative that we at Fredonia provide ‘authentic’ instructional opportunities for our candidates,” said Dr. Keary Howard, SUNY Fredonia math professor. “Family Math and Science Nights are the perfect venue. Our pre-service teachers are required to develop the curriculum and deliver instruction under real-world temporal constraints – the exact same thing they’ll need to do in their daily classroom. SUNY Fredonia and Jamestown have been long-time partners in creating extraordinary teachers — events like this are a part of this rich tradition.”

Washington Middle School’s Family and Community Engagement committee put on the event. Teacher Rachel Frisbee, a SUNY Fredonia graduate, and Priscilla Menzies, Washington instructional coach, helped organize the night and it was a perfect opportunity to engage with families in a fun way.

Prospective math teachers from SUNY Fredonia created six activities that required families to apply their knowledge of math, science and engineering in creative ways.

“I felt like the turnout of this event indicated a tipping point for us at Washington Middle School,” Menzies said. “Families see school as a place where there children are coming to learn but it is also a place where parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, students and their siblings can get together and have some fun while learning.”

SUNY Fredonia students participating included Victoria Johns, Megan Ott, Sarah Wood, Roberto Gonzalez, Emily Moyer, Sydney Bajdas and May DiCiaccio, who developed the Washington Family Night math activities.