Faced with the new state requirement that all students must graduate with four years
of math, Bowling Green High School Principal Jeff Dever knew he had students who
needed help.
For "at risk" students now sophomores, the requirement means they must get
through Algebra II, a course that can be a challenge for many students.
So Dever took the initiative to reach to the students he felt particularly needed
assistance, offering a math lab two days a week after school tutoring program.

And to he recruited a chemist from Lubrizol in Bowling Green to help along with a
couple students and the school’s math teachers.
Matt Paquette was already working in the schools. He tutored chemistry and helped in
the junior high for a year and a half.
The chemist said he was inspired to volunteer by people who went into elementary
schools to read with children.
He thought if people could step up to help out with reading why couldn’t someone like
himself who is gifted in math and science – "a geek," in the words of
his wife who is a teacher – assist in those subjects.
He’s also recruited of few of his colleagues to join him.
"This sounded better than going to a production meeting," quipped Joe
Lovell, a quality assurance manager at the company.
Lovell said he was glad to have a chance to help students. His knowledge of math and
science "is something I know I can pass on to them."
On a recent afternoon, Lovell and Paquette were in the high school’s cafeteria annex
helping C.J. Barnes and Holly Bui work the angles of their geometry homework.

Bui, a sophomore, said such individual attention definitely helps her understand the
problems better.
"I do think that’s the difference, doing it one on one," Paquette said.
"Teachers can be very stressed dealing with 30 students."
And "students don’t want to speak up if they feel they’re the only one who
doesn’t understand," he added.
This way "you can cater your teaching style to one student," Paquette said.

He realizes his love of math and science doesn’t really translate to the math lab
students. "The people who are there are not people who enjoy math," he
said. But he feels his enthusiasm and that of his colleagues for math and
science helps them make the lessons more engaging for the students.
Paquette feels that he’s not a teacher, not someone who will be grading them, also
helps. He’s someone who understands the real world applications of math and
science.
"I’m not teaching you to solve the problem," he said of his approach,
"I’m teaching you to understand the concept so you can solve all the
problems."
"He’s tremendous," Dever said of Paquette’s work. "He has a great
personality to work well with kids."
Dever said it’s too early to tell if the efforts of Paquette and the other tutors
have been a success.
"We’ll know at the end of the year when we see what kids move into the next math
level."