Geometry in the Red River of the North
Oak Grove School Journalism Students

Students vying for geometry?

Imagine you have the opportunity to be in the honors geometry class at Oak Grove Lutheran School in Fargo, North Dakota. You’re one of the lucky and mathematically skilled students who won a coveted position in the class. Students must be in excellent academic standing as well as recommended by mathematics teachers.

Bonnie Almond teaches geometry in a way that becomes community service, skill building and mathematical precision all in one. Geometry becomes hands-on.

This is the fifth year students have been builders through geometry. They celebrated the anniversary building walls for the Salvation Army office in Fargo. First they went to the building to measure the space, drew the wall to scale and made balsa wood scale models. They used that information to determine what supplies they needed.

Students also learned that as construction progresses things can change and builders need to be flexible. What began as one wall became two walls with two doorways. They also made a bookcase out of an old doorway – calling for precise measurements on the job.

They earned the money to pay for supplies as well. Last fall they raked leaves. Their earnings plus matching gifts from the school Parent Association and Aid Association for Lutherans meant they could go ahead with their work.

Sophomore Katie Bokin-skie said making sure walls were straight and the doors the right size was tough. “We were close to a perfect 90-degree angle,” she said. Using their math skills to build means more than blueprint data to the students.

“This kind of puts things into perspective. When we actually do something with geometry it makes it more meaningful,” Heather Langseth, another sophomore says. Langseth also noted that she was glad the paint they used was latex – her ponytail took a dip while they painted walls.

While at the Salvation Army they visited with a few of the clients. There wasn’t much time because they were on a tight work schedule. In those few minutes of visiting, though, the students found out about what a well-stocked toolbox should be and something of the varied backgrounds of clients.

The two girls sum up a primary goal of the class. Almond wants students to help each other, help other people, help the community, whether next door or around the world.

The first project her students did was to make a quilt that was donated to Lutheran World Relief. Then came building storage sheds for Head Start and Dorothy Day House, and storage cubbies for another Head Start. The class does all the geometrical preliminary work. For some projects the class has also written grant applications.

Almond always keeps looking for ways her students can use their many skills. They work with Fargo’s Elim Lutheran Church Habilitate project – doing whatever work is needed. No matter how dirty rebuilding older homes becomes, the students seem to have a grand time.

“She’s just a blast,” senior Jen Adamson says of working with Almond on projects. Another senior, Shawn Freitag, ruined a pair of pants tarring and shingling “but it was fun.”

Fun is a by-product for the students. They learn to cooperate and create, how to work together toward a common goal, how to build something in themselves as they build for others.

When she does her syllabus she sets the kind of high standards one would expect in an honors class. Her class is geometry put into practical application, put into life.

Almond is more of a doer than a talker. “Schools need to teach more than just subject matter, especially church-based schools. We have a responsibility to help them learn about helping others,” she says.

Mrs. Almond and her geometry classes have won the JC Penney Golden Rule award. This is one aspect of what Oak Grove Junior and Senior High School does.

See article on Page 9 entitled “Oak Grove Lutheran School Extends Service as Mission” for more stories.

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