Press Release from the Essex Elementary School Foundation

Essex Elementary School students once again excelled in Summer Math Passport Program supported by the Essex Elementary School Foundation. For a third year in a row, Essex Elementary School (EES), with the help of the Essex Elementary School Foundation (EESF), has created a summer full of fun and exciting learning for students in grades 1 to 6 through the Summer Math Passport Program, created in 2021 by EES math coach Shannon VanderMale.

This year, over 100 EES students participated in at least seven of the math activities and successfully returned their passports, proving EES to be a school full of young, bright mathematicians. Participants were gifted a set of dominos and directions for fun math games to play at home and had their names entered in a grade-level raffle to win a Toys Ahoy! gift certificate, also donated by the EESF.

Each passport created for this program contained math equations at various grade levels related to businesses, nonprofits, buildings, and historical sites located throughout the Town of Essex. EESF pompously supported the Summer Math Passport Program by funding the printing costs of the passports along with prizes for the participants. The 2023 student winners of the program are Edward Rodgers, Cory Cancelliere, Mason Ortiz, Jack Vermeer, Jackson Tyrseck, and Quinn Wiggins.

“We are so proud of all the students who participated in this program,” says EES math coach VanderMale. “Knowing that over 100 students have been positively impacted by this program is a testament in itself, and we hope to be able to continue this tradition for up-and-coming EES students.”

“It is crucial for students to practice educational concepts and skills year-round, which is why we continue to support this mission,” says Bill Jacaruso, president of the Essex Elementary School Foundation. “This effort is just one of the many incredible programs that we offer and fund to build an Essex community full of young readers, writers, mathematicians, historians, scientists, and more.”

To learn more about the Essex Elementary School Foundation, visit www.essexesf.org.