The world’s number two professional golfer Phil Mickelson says that some of his success on the links comes from his firm grasp of math and science — subjects he’s loved since grade school. Mickelson can calculate the odds of sinking a putt from how many feet away the ball is from the hole, he explains to the Wall Street Journal. That’s why his favorite off-course past-time these days is the Mickelson ExxonMobile Teacher Academy in Jersey City, N.J. Third, fourth, and fifth grade science teachers join the Academy each summer to hone their math and science teaching skills.

Mckelson is aware that schools have a tough time finding teachers with the right skills to teach these crucial courses, according to the Journal. Many U.S. math and science classes are taught by teachers who didn’t study those subjects in college, so it’s the academy’s goal to help bring those instructors up to speed in their topics. Since 2005, around 2,600 teachers have gone through the program, which was designed by experts from Math Solutions and the National Science Teachers Association. Mickelson explains that “we treat them like professionals . . . We hope that by getting them excited about teaching science, we’ll have more American kids excited about studying math and science.” And as ideas go, that’s clearly an ace.

More K-12 Education News

Filed under: K-12 Education News

Tags: Math, Mathematics, Outreach, Outreach for Schools, Science, Sports