Balance the Equation: University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Curtis Center for Mathematics and Teaching in the U.S. will create a mentorship program to motivate students at the Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy (BOGPA) to improve their performance in mathematics by positioning students on small research teams investigating a mathematics problem arising in the environmental science of their community, human biology or aerospace engineering, with mentorship by UCLA and SpaceX BlackX mathematicians of color. The mentorship program will be designed to rehumanize mathematics for BOGPA’s 98 percent Black and Latino students by engaging them as doers and creators of mathematics and by building “windows and mirrors” into their mathematics experiences to show mathematics is a socially useful endeavor for Black and Latino students. Students will present their solutions during a planned event attended by the BOGPA community and UCLA and SpaceX BlackX mentors.