two girls with rubber ducks

On the evening of January 19, 2023, A.G. Richardson (AGR) Elementary School held a Probability Fair for students and their families.  This event was the first in a trifecta of winter family events at the school. In February, they will have STEM night and they will host a reading night in March. 

AGR Math Specialist Candy Standley planned and organized the event.   She said that she saw the idea at a conference that she had attended years ago.  The evening was free to all AGR families and the materials were purchased from the ESSER III Set Asides Before & After School Grant, which includes funding for Family Engagement events. 

 When each student arrived at the event, they received a sheet of tickets, one for each of the twenty games set up in the cafeteria and gym.  Each game had a probability of winning ranging from certain to impossible. After playing the game, students had to mark if they won or lost, and then decide if they thought the game was fair or not fair.   To ensure that all students would win at least two prizes, students were “certain” to win two of the games and the rest was up to probability.  Standley said, “Our kiddos who attended seemed to handle our impossible and unlikely games with grace,” and she said that some were able to beat the odds and go home with “pretty nice bags of loot.”     

 A  pair of fifth graders hosted each game along with a teacher sponsor.  The fifth grade students made posters ahead of the fair and were invested in making the night a success. Standley said, “Our fifth graders were really the rock stars of the night!”   Rachel Sisk, a parent of one of the fifth grade students, was grateful that her son had the opportunity to be a leader in this event. In a message to Mrs. Standley, she wrote, “Thank you for giving my son this opportunity! As a momma, I myself had the opportunity to watch my son engage in so many life-needing experiences.  He was able to lead, follow, engage, motivate, listen and learn in so many different ways!”

 Prior to the Probability Fair, AGR teachers shared books and videos with their classes to build background knowledge. “Our goal was for all students to develop some understanding of probability and the vocabulary we use to describe the likelihood of an event,” Standley explained. Of the event overall, Sisk said that she and her son both had fun and she added, it “was a night that I will cherish in more ways than one!” Standley concluded, “We all had a great time, and we were so happy to have our families back in the building for a fun event.”  AGR thanks everyone who attended the event and is looking forward to the school’s STEM night next month.