More than 2,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students left their textbooks in the classroom and headed to Knights Stadium on Wednesday, April 15. The students were from six middle schools and spent the day at the stadium learning how baseball relates to math. CMS Superintendent Dr. Peter C. Gorman joined the students and even threw out the first pitch at the game. 

“For me, this is one of the best ways to work,” Dr. Gorman said. “I get to watch a baseball game with our kids and learn about math at the same time.”

This is the second year the Knights have sponsored Middle School Math Day. All CMS middle schools were invited, and students from James Martin, Sedgefield, Martin Luther King, Jr., Southwest, Ranson and Bailey Road middle schools participated. Teachers were sent math problems dealing with baseball before Math Day and student completed worksheets during the game.

“It’s important to show our students how math can relate to the real world,” said Cindy Moss, director of science and math for CMS. “When we take them out of the classroom and to a baseball stadium or amusement park or nature center, and show them all the ways people use math every day in the real world, it brings it home for them.”

The goal of Math Day was to get middle-school students excited about math. The baseball diamond turned into a classroom as students learned how to calculate batting averages and work out distance problems using the field of play. Students also learned how to calculate a player's batting average, the earned run average for a pitcher, ratios and proportions and even mileage when the team travels to out-of-town games.