Do You WIDIDI?

One hundred and fifty-one Winnsboro High School 9th and 10th graders do.

Recently they spent five Wednesdays getting to school early or staying late to brush up on math skills that may otherwise have been forgotten over the last couple of years. This is really incredible, considering there are only 165 9th and 10th graders in all, and that these tutorials are in addition to the regular school day and completely voluntary.

In fact, 117 students never missed a session.

Plans for WIDIDI, which stands for “Want it, dream it, do it,” began almost as soon as school started last August. Each year the WHS Math Team works hard tweaking what was done the year before and incorporating the latest released materials, determined to give Winnsboro students an edge over the rest of the state.

During WIDIDI, the math team tries to make the learning fun and rewards students for their attendance with snacks and great door prizes from our district and local businesses, banks and restaurants. “Our efforts are paying off,” stated WHS math department chair Becky Poe. “Since beginning this program five years ago, our math TAKS scores have been consistently higher than comparably sized districts in our region and across Texas.”

In the halls of WHS, the freshmen and sophomores proudly show off their blue bracelets that tell everyone, “Yes! I WIDIDI!”

WIDIDI 2009 Statistics:
151 students, 91% of all 9th and 10th graders, attended at least one WIDIDI session.
148 students (87%) attended 4 or 5 sessions.
117 students (71% had perfect attendance: 75 freshmen and 42 sophomores.

Submitted by Becky Poe, who has taught math at Winnsboro HS for 18 years and also serves as the head of the math department.