Dunkirk, MD – You do the math. The level of expectation for Calvert’s school-age children has risen along with a need in the workplace for savvy individuals skilled in all levels of mathematics. Public, private and home school teachers are doing an excellent job but the necessity of aiding some students in staying up-to-date with their peers is at very high level. So, the need to provide extra help to the segment of the student population requiring extra help and remediation is also at a high level.
A new local business—Mathnasium of Dunkirk—is poised to serve as the perfect adjunct to school for students who need help in this crucial subject.
Math instruction for daunted students sounds like a job that would be difficult to love—like a nightmare. But Mathnasium of Dunkirk’s owner and center director Kama Friedman will tell you for her it’s a dream come true.
On Tuesday, Aug. 26, during a ceremony to commemorate the local franchise’s opening on Town Center Boulevard, Kama Friedman told of her lifelong love of mathematics. She was a math major in college and for over 20 years was employed as an assistant comptroller at a family-owned company. Along the way she tutored many individuals and was an adjunct professor at the College of Southern Maryland.
Kama indicated she didn’t know about Mathnasium until her husband, Paul Friedman, told her about the unique franchise. In the state of Maryland there are now, with the addition of the Dunkirk location, 10 Mathnasium Learning centers.
While the franchising company had encouraged the Friedmans to locate their business in a more heavily populated community, Kama declared “we need to be here. Dunkirk is where our heart is.” The franchising company, Kama indicated, has since admitted the Friedmans had their math right and were correct all along.
So what is special about this gymnasium for math? Kama Friedman said the primary focus is on second-graders to high school seniors. Instruction times are Monday through Thursday 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays 10 to 2 p.m. Additionally, Mathnasium of Dunkirk will be doing a Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) “prep class.” The rates charged depend on the “assessment” or “check-up” administered to clients “to find out where all of their weaknesses are.”
All levels of math are covered. “Pre-algebra and algebra are big,” said Kama. She added she would like to forge a partnership with Calvert County Public Schools—last week she was planning to attend a PTA meeting to discuss just that—however, the franchising company requires all instruction to be done on-site.
At the ceremony, which was attended by a majority of the Calvert County Commissioners, members of the county government staff, Calvert County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors plus the Friedmans’ family and friends, Kama offered special thanks to the other Town Center Boulevard business owners who helped the couple through the business start-up process.
Mathnasium of Dunkirk currently has eight instructors on its staff. As for the young clients it has instructed since opening, Kama Friedman remarked, “usually, they leave pretty happy.”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com