Pub. 13 2018 Issue 1

21 Issue 1 2018 / UCLS Foresights www.ucls.org What is Trig-Star you may be asking? Trig-Star is an outreach program that is sponsored nationally by NSPS and locally by the UCLS and local members. The program consists of two parts: 1. Making a presentation to teach about and promote our profession, and 2. Proctoring a timed survey math test where contestants have the op- portunity to win cash prizes. At Hurricane High School, every single Secondary Math 3 student is required by the math department to participate in the class presentation, while entering the math contest is completely voluntary. Out of about 300 students in Secondary Math 3, general- ly less than 10% choose to participate in the contest. The coolest thing for me is when I get to attend Honors Night in May where hundreds of students receive certificates of recognition for excelling in this or that, and then I get to take the stage and call up the Trig-Star winners and hand out checks, followed by thunderous applause! Three years ago, I decided to expand my horizons and see if a local private school for troubled youth would be interested in having me present and allow students to participate in the contest. As with Hurricane High School, I had a similar experience with Diamond Ranch Acade- my - it took a little extra effort to get into the school, but once they saw my presentation I was received with open arms. In fact, this year’s second place winner in the State of Utah is a student from Diamond Ranch Academy. He scored 100% in just over 25 minutes! Impressive for a “troubled youth”. The opportunity to be a winner is very impactful, especially in these students’ lives. I am blessed to have an employer that supports me in taking the time to administer the Trig-Star program in Hurricane. Honestly, it takes about 3 full days of my time, annually, to deliver. I feel that the program is one of the best opportunities any of us will have to promote our profession to the next generation, and I encourage each member of UCLS to evaluate how you might be able to sponsor the Trig-Star program in a school close to you, especially if you have friends or family that attend the school. We will only reap what we sow, and our profes- sion is in dire need of new blood. I believe that NSPS and UCLS would find it a low-grade problem to have more participation than they have funding to support. At UCLS headquarters we have Brad Mortensen at the helm of Trig-Star. If you are interested in sponsoring a school (which will only cost you a little time), please con- tact Brad at bmortensen@meiamerica.com for Trig-Star instructions and resources. You can also contact me at Arthur@cityofhurricane.com or 435-632-3462 if you need tips or answers to questions. q