News from The Rotary Club of Indio along with Desert Sands Unified School District:

The Rotary Club of Indio along with Desert Sands Unified School District (DSUSD) is proud to announce the date of the 2018 Coachella Valley Middle School Rotary Math Field Day (RMFD). This year’s event will take place on Saturday, April 28th at John Glenn Middle School in Indio. This event will run from 8:30am to 3:00pm.

RMFD, celebrating its 24th anniversary, is a community wide event recognizing achievements in mathematics by Coachella Valley Middle School students. All three school districts in the Coachella Valley as well as private schools are invited to participate. Each year, RMFD attracts between 350-400 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Each school can send three teams, one from each grade level, with 10 per team.

Students compete in individual and team competitions by grade level. The competitions include elements of a balanced mathematics program such as computational and procedural skills, along with conceptual understanding and problem solving. Events include Leapfrog, Calculator Challenge, Mental Gymnastics, Team Investigation, and Construction Derby. Games include Hex, 5 in a Row, 24, 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, and Capture. There are individual prizes as well as school team awards. The coveted Top Mathematician Award is given to the top student for each grade level.

RMFD began in 1995. Then President of the Rotary Club of Indio, John J. Benoit, our late 4th District County Supervisor, found that our local students were not participating in the Math Field Day held in Riverside. Due to budget cuts affecting extra curricular activities and transportation, students from the desert were missing this competition. Through his leadership, Indio Rotary stepped up and organized this event. With the assistance of other desert Rotary Clubs and the business community, sponsors, and DSUSD, RMFD has provided our local students the opportunity to participate in this valuable educational competition.

“This event was created to promote math as a fun subject. There are so many simple things in our daily lives that are grounded in math principles. This event encourages middle school students to sharpen their math skills,” reported Martha Mendez, Chairwoman of RMFD for Indio Rotary.

“There are many recognition opportunities for student athletes and very few for academics. This event fills that void and reaffirms to students that academics are very important and worthy of recognition. Think of this as the Math Olympics. We celebrate the achievements of our ‘mathaletes’”, said Don Casper, Indio Rotary Club President.

For more information about RMFD, to volunteer to assist with the event, or to make a monetary donation to help support this community project please contact [email protected] or Facebook/IndioRotary.

The Indio Rotary Club is the fun loving service club that since 1949 has been working to help make Indio and the world a better place. Our group of civic leaders share their time and energy to support our community. We meet weekly to network, hear speakers on various subjects and work on service projects including Dictionaries for Indio Third Graders and Scholarships for Indio Students. We meet Tuesdays at Noon in the Special Events Center at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Our club is always open to new members who would like to participate in the activities. For more information, e-mail us at [email protected] or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IndioRotary . “Service Above Self”