2023 Summer Math Day Event at Camp Mariposa
Camp Mariposa Math Day Video edited by Dylan Lam.
Omid for Girls Hosts Math Day Event at Camp Mariposa to Raise Awareness of Education Inequality in Afghanistan
Omid for Girls founder Sophia (Sophie) Lee hosted a Math Day event for approximately 100 Girl Scouts at the Altadena Mariposa Day Camp this past summer. Participant ages spanned kindergarten to 6th grade, and Sophie created packets of math problems targeted toward different grade curriculums. Girls worked together in teams to solve diverse types of math problems, and every completed problem earned their group a different raft construction material. The goal was to create a raft that carried as many golf ball weights as possible with the materials earned. After each group completed their raft, they tested their creations in a portable pool.
Sophie recruited two other high school volunteers, Dylan Lam from Polytechnic High School and Zalea Nunez from Pasadena High School, to help run the event.
Young Girl Scouts test out the raft they built using supplies earned by solving math problems.
“Through this event, we were not only able to make math fun for the Girl Scouts, but foster teamwork, creative thinking and problem solving skills,” Sophie said. “We had such a great time, and I'm so glad that we were able to make math fun!”
Sophie, Dylan, and Zalea educated the younger Girl Scouts about the current situation in Afghanistan, in which girls past 6th grade are no longer able to attend school after the Taliban gained governmental control in 2021. Sophie also presented a video that featured current girls in Afghanistan who shared their personal testimonies of receiving tutoring through Omid for Girls and the impact it had made on them.
“I am glad I was also able to create awareness of what is currently happening in Afghanistan because many students have no idea,” Sophie said.
For female high school students interested in joining for Omid for Girls, please reach out to sophielee237@gmail.com. Volunteers engage in weekly one hour math tutoring sessions online with a female Afghan student currently living in Kabul, Afghanistan.
