The senior math class at John Oliver Secondary are using their skills to build partnerships and mentor others.

The group of about 12 students in Grades 9-12 have been working around a theme this year is that "math is fun and relevant".

As a part of this year's program the class partnered with VanCity to learn about wages, mortgages and taxes-a focus on relevance, and also partnered with a Grade 3 class at Mackenzie Elementary to teach math games-a focus on fun. 

"My class designs and creates games for the Grade 3 students at Mackenzie, depending on what they are learning," says Alisha Parashar, the class's teacher at John Oliver. "Every month we go to Mackenzie Elementary to teach these games to the young students." 

Starting in January, the Grade 3s will visit the math class at John Oliver to play these games.

Says Parashar, "The point of this program is to not only develop the confidence of my high school students, but also to show how math can be fun at all grade levels. My students are becoming mentors for the elementary level students and they are also developing relationships within the community."