Summer School at TVMSC

Treasure Valley Mathematics and Science Center will hold summer school classes for a variety of accelerated courses in summer 2008. The following classes will be offered:

In the morning sessions (7:50 - 11:35 AM):

           (HSC) Accelerated Geometry               ** Accelerated Math 7              

            (HSC) Accelerated Algebra 1               ** Reading 8

            (HSC) Accelerated Algebra 2              

 In the afternoon sessions (12:30 - 3:55 PM):

            ** Physical Education 8^th grade (1^st semester only)               

             ** Health 8^th grade (2^nd semester only)

(HSC) - Course carries High School Credit

** These classes are NOT for high school credit.

For further information about courses and registration please reference the attached information packet:  TVMSC Summer School information and registration

Posted March 18, 2008

2008 ISU Physics Internship

Congratulations go out to Sam Anderson, a student in TVMSC's 11th grade cohort! Sam has been selected to participate in the Idaho State University Department of Physics and the Idaho Accelerator Center High School Summer Intern program.  

The number of applicants this year was very large, and the competition was fierce!  

The internship positions begin June 9, 2008. They last either four or six weeks during the summer. Sam and the other students selected for participation in this Internship position will work with ISU Physics Faculty in providing research or educational support.  These students will be paid $8.50 per hour based on a 40-hour work week, and will be
provided with room and board on campus.  

If these interns later choose to attend ISU and major in physics following their involvement in the summer internship program, they will each receive a $3000 scholarship for their freshman year. By participating in the Idaho State University Department of Physics and the Idaho Accelerator Center High School Summer Intern program, these students also receive a scholarship this summer for ISU credit for Physics 481, Independent Problems.

This will be Sam Anderson's second internship position.  During the 2007 - 2008 school year, Sam has worked in the field of environmental engineering with  MWH Global in Boise as part of his TVMSC Internship course.

We are very pleased for Sam and proud of his accomplishments!

Posted April 1, 2008

Idaho State Math Counts Results

On Saturday, March 8th, approximately 90 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade "mathletes" from 28 Idaho schools competed in the 2008 Idaho State MATHCOUNTS Competition. The competition, which was held at Timberline High School, was hosted by the Idaho Society of Professional Engineers, and sponsored by Hewlett Packard Co., Micron Technology, and the three state Colleges of Engineering.  Students vied for trophies, scholarships, and a chance to represent Idaho in the National MATHCOUNTS Competition.

Anyone interested in learning more about MATHCOUNTS can visit its web site at:

http://www.mathcounts.org

Congratulations to these students for their outstanding performance!

Posted March 10th, 2008

Accolades for TVMSC's Math Counts Competitors

Southwest Chapter MATH COUNTS Competition occurred on February 9, 2008 in Boise.

Several TVMSC students were involved as individual participants at the Southwest Chapter MATH COUNTS Competition for their home school. TVMSC is not able to have a team compete in these events, so TVMSC students participate as members of their home schools' teams. Of the TVMSC students who competed this year, several earned a place in the Top 10 in the Individual's Events. These students will be moving on to the State Competition on March 8th, 2008.  The TVMSC students who placed in the top 10 include:

            #1 Sam Faucher, competing for Hillside Junior High School

            #2 Kevin Hou, competing for North Junior High School

            #3 Nick Davey, competing for East Junior High School

            #4 Adam Jiang, competing for Hillside Junior High School

            #6 Paul Schroeder, competing for East Junior High School

            #9 Jenny Kim, competing for East Junior High School

TVMSC students also completed the competition to finish in the Top 15.

TVMSC students also participated as members of their home school's MATH COUNTS Teams. The Top 4 teams moving on to the State Competition included the following school teams that had TVMSC students representing their home schools:

1st Place - Hillside Junior High School - (Sam Faucher, Adam Jiang, Erik Anderson, and Jatin Julakanti who attend Hillside Jr. High and TVMSC were the team members for First Place Team)

2nd Place - North Junior High School - (Kevin Hou & Colby Bishop who attend North Jr. High and TVMSC were the team members for the Second Place Team)

3rd Place - East Junior High School - (Nick Davey, Jeehae Lee, and Joseph Lim who attend East Jr. High and TVMSC were the team members for the Third Place Team)

We are extremely proud of all of the students participating in the MATH COUNTS events and offer our congratulations and respect to those moving on to the upcoming State Competition.

Posted February 18th, 2008

Paul Schroeder and Nick Davey – Built a hovercraft the entire weekend before the event. Filmed a demonstration video that was shown at the event. During Discover Engineering, Paul and Nick demonstrated the hovercraft and were very effective in explaining how it worked. The hovercraft that Nick Davey and Paul Schroeder spent a weekend and their money to build took much abuse over the course of the 8 hours it was used as an 'interactive instructional prop' at the event.

Sam Faucher – Designed a wonderful brochure on the history and the mechanics behind hovercrafts. During Discover Engineering, Sam demonstrated the hovercraft and explained how it worked.

Charles Bin – Filmed a demonstration video that was shown at the event. During Discover Engineering, Charles demonstrated the hovercraft and explained how it worked.

Neal Carpenter, Corey Efaw, Corey Hennin, Duy Nguyen, Alister Tencate, Kristen Mitchell, Michelle Shannon and Adelle Milholland – During the Discover Engineering Event, this outstanding team of students demonstrated the hovercraft and effectively explained how it worked to attendees of all ages.

Jacob Buckley, Brandyn Pierce, Cynthia Tang, Kristin Mitchell and Duy Nguyen demonstrated and then gave ‘rides’ on the hovercraft to very excited, younger members of their audience. These students were all very professional, knowledgeable and friendly to all that came to our demonstration. They worked as a team to put on an entertaining and informative demonstration.

Michelle Shannon – Brought in Chladni’s Plates (Speaker Art) and demonstrated the use of sound to create sound wave patterns with salt.

Edwardo Hurtado –Helped build a trebuchet the week before the event. During Discover Engineering did a wonderful job describing and demonstrating the hovercraft.

Brandyn Pierce – Designed and built a trebuchet the week before the event. During Discover Engineering did a wonderful job describing and demonstrating the hovercraft. Was there longer than anyone else (almost the entire day), showing great teamwork and leadership.

Zach McCormack – Designed several small hovercrafts that were put on display during the event. During Discover Engineering, Zach demonstrated the hovercraft and explained how it worked.

Cynthia Tang – Was in charge of the hovercraft poster and presentation materials. During Discover Engineering, Cynthia did a wonderful job describing and demonstrating the hovercraft technology.

Bailey Cullen – Gave instruction on how to build mini-hovercrafts. Bailey also gave demonstrations, instructions and history on trebuchets at Discover Engineering Day.

Luke Schoensee – During Discover Engineering Day, Luke demonstrated wave patterns formed by the Chladni Plates.

Gary Parkinson, Luke Parkinson, Zane Beckman, Theresa Konecni, Alex Baca, Taylor Tosaya, Samantha Godwin, Logan McArthur, William Gee, Carl Harmon, Eddie Smith, Bodie Drake, Cody Brown, Tatiana Waltz, Spencer Nelson, Emma Boxer and Joe McNeal - facilitated at the Engineering Building as guides and offered assistance during various Micron sessions.

Posted February 18th, 2008

Student Selection for TVMSC

The student selection process for screening students who wish to be considered for the 2008 - 2009 TVMSC program began December 3, 2007.  Forms and details about screening and applying for the program are now available from our "Application Process' web page.

The first screening day for new applicants was held on Saturday, January 26th.  The next scheduled screening days are on Saturday, February 9th and Saturday, April 19th. There will also be an afternoon screening on Friday, March 7th from 12:00 - 4:00 for a limited number of applicants.

Screening is for students who would like to be considered for inclusion in the TVMSC program in the 2008 - 2009 school year. On these three screening assessment days, the screening of candidates occurs between 8:00 AM and 1:30 PM on each of the days. Scores from these screening assessments are used for student selection purposes only. Students are not charged for testing and scores will only be used for screening and selection purposes.

Preregistration to reserve space for a student on one of these dates began on December 3, 2007.  The 'Intent to Test' form should first be downloaded, filled out and submitted to the TVMSC office to reserve a space for your student on one of the testing dates.  Please be certain to include a working e-mail address on the document as all confirmation of your child's reserved space to test will be e-mailed back to each family.

Students will also need to obtain the documents identified on the 'Application Process' pages of this website.  These forms will include teacher recommendations, adult advocate recommendations, ISAT scores (or comparable test scores from other states) and copies of report cards.  These documents will form the portfolio for each applicant.  No student will be considered for TVMSC until they have a comprehensive portfolio submitted to the office.  Students could begin gathering Teacher and Adult Advocate Recommendation Forms at this time.

Please refer to our 'Application Process' handout and as well as our 'Application Process' web pages for detailed instructions.

***Please note!  Screening and selection of the students requires that they test and also submit the required documents for their individual Student Selection portfolios. The checklist contents are outlined on our 'Application Process' page.

Posted February 25th, 2008

Best Buy Teach Award Grant for TVMSC

TVMSC is one of 1,300 schools nationwide to be awarded a $2,000 Best Buy Teach Award for 2008 on behalf of Matthew Yocum.  This is the second Best Buy Teach Award granted to a TVMSC teacher.  In February, 2007, Janice Poppenga was also a recipient of a $2,000 Best Buy Teach Award.

Best Buy believes technology can excite and engage students, creating a more valuable educational experience. Through Best Buy Teach Awards, schools are provided gift cards to enable them to purchase more technology for their students to use and learn. Since 2004, the Best Buy Teach Award program has awarded over $17 million to over 6,000 K-12 schools nationwide.

This award will be used to acquire additional technology for the program, including camcorders, TI-89 calculators, flash drives and software.

The Treasure Valley Mathematics and Science Center sincerely appreciates the continued support for our program that has been provided by Best Buy!

Posted February 18th, 2008

Lightfoot Foundation Grant for TVMSC

On January 22nd, the Lightfoot Foundation awarded TVMSC a grant in the amount of $2,500.00. These funds were granted for use by the Center to acquire specimen slides for Biology, molecular model sets for Chemistry and additional stereomicroscopes for Earth Science and Biology.

The Lightfoot Foundation has provided generous and ongoing support for the Treasure Valley Mathematics and Science Center. Since 2005, the financial support of the Lightfoot Foundation has enabled TVMSC to acquire microscopes, stereomicroscopes, glassware (beakers, test tubes, flasks, etc.), chemicals, lab equipment and materials, as well as safety equipment such as a goggle sanitizing cabinet for the safety goggles.

The students and staff of TVMSC sincerely appreciate the difference that this support has made in the instructional opportunities available to our students each year!

Posted February 6th, 2008

J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation Education Fund Grant for TVMSC

On November 21st, the "J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation Education Fund in the Idaho Community Foundation"  awarded TVMSC a grant in the amount of $4,190.00.  The 2007 Idaho Community Foundation's Southwestern Region Competitive grant program selected TVMSC to receive the grant funds to support the acquisition of additional equipment and materials for the new science lab at the TVMSC Capital site.

We are extremely appreciative of the ongoing support provided by the Idaho Community Foundation and the J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation Education Fund!

In the Fall of 2005, TVMSC also received a grant for $1,500 from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation in the Idaho Community Foundation.

Posted November 26th, 2007

Hewlett-Packard "Gifts In Kind International" Donations for TVMSC

In the recent  "Gifts In Kind International, HP U.S. Employee Giving Program" three Hewlett-Packard employees, Michael Tang, Don Baldazo, and Arlin Jones, collaborated to make possible the donation of three digital cameras and thirty scientific calculators to the Treasure Valley Mathematics and Science Center.

These equipment donations are valued at $806.70. The donated cameras and calculators will be used by all of the Center's students in their research, mathematics and science classes!

The staff and students of TVMSC sincerely appreciate the support and generosity of these Hewlett-Packard employees.

Posted December 4th, 2007

There will not be classes held at TVMSC from Monday, March 24th through Friday, March 28th as this is the week of Spring Break!

Posted March 18th, 2008