WKU News

“There’s no place like home” for WKU alum Robert Brown (’15) of Glasgow, Kentucky, so it just seemed right to create a project for his 5th grade math students at Park City Elementary based on his alma mater’s Homecoming theme.

“I started my math class by playing the WKU Fight Song as the students walked in. My kiddos are used to me greeting them in a unique way so there were only a few confused looks,” said Brown.

Brown then told the students they would be conducting a math-based project with the goals of finding seats for the WKU Homecoming game at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium, visiting the concession stand and of course the gift shop, but there was also a catch: they had to follow a budget. 

“I gave them an allowance of $750 to take their entire family to the game,” Brown explained. “I did change the pricing of the seats to challenge the student’s multiplication skills. I differentiated it by explaining each kid may have a different number of people in their family, so not everyone will get the same answer. Once the students realized that a larger family meant more money spent on tickets, they started moving around the stadium. Some decided that the front section would be best for them, and they would just leave their little brother at home. Some wanted to bring extended family, so they knew they would need a cheaper seat."

While the students did the math work by hand, they all checked their final work together as a group with a calculator. Brown said he has more ideas in the works for WKU-inspired homework, especially since the kids loved it as much as he did.

“I liked it because we could bring our friends, and everyone’s numbers were different,” said 5th grader Gentry Gray.

“It was really fun because it was about WKU and football,” said 5th grader JoJo Driver.