Alex (“Dr. K”) Kontorovich is a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Rutgers University, and the Founder and Executive Director of Rutgers Math Corps. Running a middle school math camp was never on his “bingo” card of life, but here we are! Dr. K learned about the Math Corps from his friend, Professor Sarah (“PK2”) Koch, who runs a branch at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. PK2 told him how deeply meaningful and impactful the program had been, and what a joy it was to watch kids discover their own greatness, succeed at hard things, and grow within a community that believed in them. She put him in touch with the real brains of the operation, Professor Steve (“PK”) Kahn at Wayne State University in Detroit.
At its heart, the Math Corps is not really a math program, at least not in the usual sense. Math is the language we use and the work we gather around, but the deeper lessons are about courage, persistence, responsibility, and belonging. Campers learn that being confused is not a failure, that asking for help is a strength, and that hard things become possible when people refuse to let each other give up. The Math Corps teaches students to show up for themselves and for one another, to take joy seriously, and to understand that excellence is not something reserved for a few “math people,” but something a whole community can build together.