By Edison Meals

The new school year has brought a new club into existence: Mr. Valois’ Math Club. Here, students can receive homework help or may challenge themselves with harder problems.

“So much of the time in our schools,” Mr. Valois said, “is dedicated to kids with challenges. Fewer resources seem to be given to advanced students.” So far he has been pulling problems from The Art of Problem Solving and Big Ideas Math to be displayed where club members can solve them. But it isn’t all academic. He also thinks it’s good to let kids who like math meet others like them.

An average of 15 students (including me) come every Tuesday at lunch, but Mr. Valois would like it to be a bit busier. “I wish students who need extra help would get help from a student here rather than going to a teacher,” he said. Generally, his classroom is a nice place to be at 12:10 p.m. on Tuesdays. “Not everyone even does math here. They just come here to hang out. It’s the place to be.” I couldn’t agree more.

The other 14 members also enjoy Math Club. “I like doing my homework because I have very little time to do it at home. Oh, and I like drawing on the whiteboards,” says 8th grader Jenna Kwong. On November 13, the club conducted a student-led mock lesson on calculus.

7th grader Conrad said, “Math club is a fun club established by Mr. Valois and is a place where you can work on problems and improve your problem-solving skills.”