OUR NAME
3131 is a story of numbers. 3131 Math was founded by 3 high school students in one state, but 3 different cities. Despite the distance, we all share one goal: to inspire a love of math in the next generation.
OUR STORY
In 2022, our founders discovered a growing trend nationwide. After the COVID-19 pandemic, elementary students’ math standardized test scores dropped significantly. Further research revealed that a significant reason for this was math anxiety, so they created a curriculum that addressed math anxiety rather than math deficiencies. It ended up as a 4-day math camp that used collaborative, project-based activities and growth mindset training to nurture student interest and confidence in math. After running the first camp, they decided to implement a module system so that any high school student could use 3131’s curriculum to support elementary students in their community.
OUR GOAL
Our goal is to reach as many students as possible by both continuing to run camps at Boys & Girls Clubs near us and creating a model for high school students across the U.S. to be able to use our curriculum and instructions to run 3131 camps in their own communities. We want to create an inviting space for more elementary students to have fun with math and expose them to positive math experiences. Our camps are only 5 days long and we don’t tutor our students or teach them any new lessons, so while we can’t immediately improve their math skills, we can show them math through a new lens and provide them with tools for long-term success in math.
WHAT SETS US APART
In our initial research, we looked up different after-school math programs for elementary school students. We combed through the internet, searching for everything from popular tutor programs that produce A students, to math-craft programs hosted at our local elementary schools. In this research, we found a gap in the market: there were almost no programs targeted toward students who struggle with or hate math that used engaging, non-tutoring curriculum and had little to no cost. By creating a curriculum that shows students how to have fun and engage with math they've already learned instead of teaching them new things that welcomes students who dislike math and has a low cost, we fill that gap.