Something I have always loved about working for MIND Research Institute is that we are so much more than a “math company.” We are a nonprofit social impact organization specializing in neuroscience and education research. Mostly, we are beholden to our mission: to mathematically equip all students to solve the world’s most challenging problems.
That “solve the world’s most challenging problems” bit has always resonated with me most. Sure, we want students to have higher math self-beliefs and a better foundational understanding of math concepts, but we also want them to feel prepared to think critically and use their minds to their full potential. Do you know what I find helps most when trying to solve a challenging problem? A whole lot of creativity!
Some may say that art and math are two completely separate subjects, but they are actually best friends. Both engage different areas of the brain that enable us to recognize patterns and find relationships between objects, known as spatial reasoning. Think of an architect and an animator. Both need a solid understanding of foundational math concepts like measurement, symmetry, and proportions to do their work. That's the basis of our brand new livestream series, Creative MINDs. Each episode infuses these foundational math concepts into an interactive art project.
During the livestream, you’ll meet one of our Curriculum and Instruction team members, or other MIND colleagues, who will act as your host for the episode. They’ll guide you through step-by-step instructions, asking questions along the way, as you make something amazing together. At the end of each show, you’ll walk away with a sketch, illustration, or other fun piece of art to be proud of. You can even share your creations with us on social media by using the hashtag #CreativeMINDs.
During our very first episode of CreativeMINDs, we learned how to draw JiJi, the ST Math penguin! Courtney Parks, a Visual Artist and Illustrator at MIND, took us on a fun journey where we discovered shapes using our existing schema of breakfast foods to help draw JiJi. Slowly but surely, the different shapes we drew and put together revealed our penguin friend! Even the most artistically challenged viewers (that would be me) were delighted to find a decently drawn JiJi on their paper by the end of the show. Look at me grow!
If you don’t catch the livestream in real time, that’s okay! Each episode is saved to our YouTube channel after airing, where you can view it at any time. You could even play an episode in your classroom or at home for a fun activity students will love. Check out the “Let’s Draw JiJi” episode with Courtney below.
You can catch new episodes of CreativeMINDs on the second Wednesday of each month. We hope you’ll join us on Wednesday, March 9 at 3 pm Pacific, for our second episode where Michael Watson, MIND’s Director of Art and Design, will show us how to create an alien with a little help from arithmetic operations. Grab a pencil, some paper and a snack, and we’ll see you there!
You can get in on the fun of CreativeMINDs through YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Never miss an episode by subscribing to MIND’s YouTube channel!
Kelsey Skaggs was the Communications Manager at MIND Education. She enjoys highlighting the work of colleagues and partners who champion MIND's mission.
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