Macherla, a town in Palnadu District of Andhra Pradesh, holds a special place in the hearts of three of our directors, Srini Vemula, Chiranjeevi Maddala, and Prakash, as it is their hometown. On February 18, 2023, our team had the privilege of visiting Macherla to attend the anniversary function at Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar and conduct a Math4ALL workshop at their school and another school, if possible.
We were invited by Mr. Anil Akkineni, whom we met a month ago at India CSR Summit. Mr. Akkineni also suggested Kids Pathasala, managed by KCP management, as another potential school for our workshop. Upon reaching Macherla with Raju, Lakshmi, and Praveen, we arrived at Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar with Mr. Akkineni, his family members, and other guests, including DN Rao, the former president of VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, and A.D.L. Prasad, the ex-chief executive of The Jeypore Sugar Co. Ltd, Visakhapatnam.
Mr. Chiranjeevi Maddala, one of the directors of {igebra.ai} was also a guest of honor for the day. He was invited to the stage and requested to speak a few words. During his speech, Mr. Maddala talked about our roots, the company, and our Math4ALL program. Math4ALL is a global outreach program aimed at helping children at the grassroots level to score well in math.
The team met with Ms. Rama Devi, the Headmistress of Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar. She had some apprehensions about the methodologies of the Math4ALL workshop and whether it would disturb the students who were preparing for their board exams. The team clarified her doubts and fixed the schedule to conduct two sessions, one for 9th graders and one for 10th graders, on the next day. The school had approximately 450 students across all grades.
The team started the workshop for the 10th graders the following day. Raju interacted with the students and taught them a method to calculate the multiplication product of numbers from 1 to 100 with numbers from 1 to 10 without using pen and paper. He also demonstrated a different method for polynomial division. The workshop was attended by Mr. Anil, Ms. Rama Devi, and the math teacher of the school.
The team also checked the school’s computer lab to assess the possibility of conducting RobART classes for the students. The school had four computers connected to the internet, and they informed the team that they would be getting ten more computers by the next academic year. They also had a computer faculty with a lighter workload. The team considered the option of training the faculty to teach the students.
Later in the day, Raju conducted a session for the 9th graders. Mr. Anil appreciated the team’s work and inquired about their future plans. The team assured him that they would come up with a plan for the next academic year after assessing a few other factors to make it possible.
The Math4ALL workshop at Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar was a success. The Math4ALL workshop was well-received, and the team was impressed by the students’ aptitude for the subject. The team’s initiative to explore the possibility of conducting RobART classes for the students highlights their commitment to the betterment of the students’ education. The team’s visit to Macherla was a reminder that small towns and their schools have immense potential, and it is our responsibility to tap into that potential and help students achieve their full potential.
It was heartwarming to see the students’ excitement and enthusiasm for learning, and we hope to continue our efforts in helping students across the world through our Math4ALL program.