"Centifest" Festivities Add Up To A Mathematical Celebration

For immediate release:
February 19, 2003
Tampa, Fla

For primary students at Independent Day School -Corbett Campus (IDS-CC), the first Friday in February was more than just the end of another week of school. It was a day for celebrating math - and the 100th day of being in school - with a variety of hands-on, math-related activities.

While teachers and students celebrate student success and the learning experience daily at IDS, the 100th day of school is cause for special festivities. Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first and second grade students and teachers call it the annual "Centifest."

"Centifest has become an IDS tradition in the primary grades," said first grade teacher and Upper Primary Division Leader Debi Brockmeyer. "We have an annual Science Fair to celebrate science and a yearly Young Author's Day to celebrate writing. Centifest is our way to celebrate math."

During Centifest, students circulated in small, multi-grade teams among the primary classrooms taking part in activities that involved multiple intelligences and focused on the number 100.
They colored, cut and painted to create 100-day badges and ladybugs, as well as 100 valentines for patients at a local veterans hospital. A visual/spatial activity involved manipulating 100 plastic cubes to create a design on graph paper. They also participated in "centi-aerobics" physical activities such as throwing a ball or Frisbee to reinforce the concept of 100 centimeters.

Centifest festivities were the culmination of numerous projects based on 100, many of which had been taking place in classrooms since the beginning of school. First graders, for example, had a goal of reading 100 books. Several classes kept track of "Acts of Kindness" with 100 as their target. All students brought in collections of 100 items, which they sorted, counted and compared to integrate a variety of mathematical skills. Teachers also incorporated literature into their focus on 100. Pre-k students, for example, combined collections of 100 edible items to create a class pie after reading Audrey Woods' popular Sweet Dream Pie.

"For young students, the number 100 is a really important concept," said pre-k teacher Jessica Schew. "Centifest makes the number real to them with a variety of hands-on learning activities."

Founded in 1968, IDS, recently renamed Independent Day School-Corbett Campus, is a fully accredited, nonsectarian, independent school located in northwest Hillsborough County. It serves 500 plus students in grades Pre-K through 8. At IDS, all children experience learning in a nurturing and highly academic environment focused on excellence and developing a positive self-concept. IDS-CC has become recognized as an exemplary school with over 900 visitors observing and learning from and with IDS-CC teachers. For more information about IDS, visit www.idsyes.com

Contact: Dr. Joyce Burick Swarzman, Head of Independent Day School-Corbett Campus
Telephone: (813) 961-3087