The next time somebody asks you about the application of mathematics in life, tell that person that it can save people’s lives.

In a local private school in America, students put their math skills into good use by participating in a Math-a-thon, which is geared to raising funds for tsunami relief effort in South Asia. Students at Willowind School accomplished this by gathering pledges from friends and family, who donated a specific amount of money, ranging from a penny ($0.01) to a quarter ($0.25), for every math problem that they solved. At the end of this three-week fundraising drive, a total of $2,688.30 were raised.

The amount raised more than doubled the target amount of $1000, much to the delight of the event’s organizers. Some of the students were able to complete between 1000 and 7000 math problems in the three-week span!

This was a very momentous event, especially for the children, for they got to experience what it is like getting involved and helping other people’s lives in their own small way. Also, it promoted the values of working hard in math. In fact, Willowind School principal Pat Schmidt even commented, “Kids who don’t usually like math were liking math.”