Rowe's students get creative with algebra

By IAN MINIELLY

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Bessemer - For the past 12 years, Tracy Rowe's Algebra II class has begun each school year with a homework project to capture the "state of algebra." This project takes the kids about three hours of their own time and brightens the hallway outside of Rowe's class and near the library for the rest of the school year.

The students are expected to come up with a slogan to build their project around. They used to do this on their own, but with the internet, the majority of kids are now finding their slogans and ideas online. After slogan development, the kids work on the "state" of algebra and a math concept they can colorize, romanticize and even polarize into a visible display of eye catching detail and appeal. This frequently uses geometric shapes combined with the plus, minus, and sign for division.

Rowe says she has kept the best of the student creations over the years and has a supply of about 25 built up over the years that she shows the kids as idea spawning creations. She is still adding to her collection of student art and this year's student creations has some potential suitors for Rowe's fancy.