Does ATYP make you want to sing?

It makes Nathan and Daniel want to dance!

Yes, it's a party every day in Dr. LaHaie's class!

ATYP welcomes Mr. Marty Trautman as a math instructor for our Battle Creek classes! Mr. Trautman is our guest blogger today, with a special message for his students and their families:

My name is Marty Trautman, and I'm incredibly excited to step in and help out this semester.  I graduated from Lakeview High School and then moved onto and graduated from Michigan State University in 1992.  I taught various high school math classes ranging from Pre-Algebra to Calculus and AP Statistics for 20 years at both Battle Creek Central High School and Albion High School.  Additionally, over the past 15 years, I have taught courses ranging from Developmental Math up through Calculus for Kellogg Community College as an adjunct instructor.  I was recently hired by Jackson College as well to teach math as an adjunct and just completed my first semester there this past December.  I have been married for 16 years to my wife Andrea and have a 13 year old
daughter, Gwen, and a 6 year old son, Ian.  In terms of hobbies, I enjoy reading (both novels and comic books), playing video games (Pokemon and Legend of Zelda games being my favorites), creating video games using a program called Scratch, and  watching football. I'll do my best to look out for and continue to challenge your students.

The ATYP staff are back in the office, enjoying the view of the snow out of our window. We know most of you did not have class this week, so we hope you're taking advantage of this extra free time to make sure you are completely caught up on your coursework. You should have received an email from your instructor with directions/assignments for turning in work and what you will be responsible for next week. Not having class this week is not an excuse for not having next week's work done! If  you're unsure of what to do, please contact your instructor ASAP.

If you get a chance and you're still awake, NPR says you may be able to see the northern lights. Check it out at: http://michiganradio.org/post/northern-lights-may-be-visible-michigan-tonight. A cool way to celebrate what should be the actual end of holiday break!

Here's Jessica, wearing her winning t-shirt design! Jessica won a shirt and a $50 gift card to the WMU bookstore. Congratulations!

The new shirts are here, and they look fantastic!

ATYP is joining the Scholastic Book Club! We know that some of you miss the opportunity to purchase books through school, so we've decided to give you that opportunity with us. Paper fliers will be going home with Kalamazoo students this week, with orders and checks due by Friday, January 17. For Battle Creek students - and Kalamazoo students who would rather order online - go to https://orders.scholastic.com/MTPYY to have your books ordered through ATYP.

If you read a book and love it, don't forget to email us so we can add it to our recommended books page. Happy reading!

On Saturday, December 7, a group of five ATYP students met bright and early to compete in Grand Valley State University’s first Math-Team-Matics competition. A fresh mix of 7th-9th graders tackled four separate challenges - a group test, an individual test, a relay, and two Quiz-Bowl style face-offs. After three events, ATYP fell just short of first place. A very close second Quiz Bowl match resulted in a loss which put them just short of second and a spot in the final Quiz Bowl. The day, however, was not lost as the team finished in third place - a feat any new group should be proud of! Since the mathematics department at GVSU has promised two more years of the competition, we look forward to what the future may hold for our young math students!

Maria Talanda-Fisher

Team Coach