Press Release
July 16, 2014

Bruce W. Woolpert Algebra Academy Spurs Local Students to Math Achievemen

Middle School Students Spend Last Week of Summer with CSU Monterey Bay & US Santa Cruz Professors for a Head Start in their Algebra Studies.

More than 100 incoming eighth-graders will spend the last days of their summer break immersed in math at the Bruce W. Woolpert Algebra Academy, which begins Aug. 7 at Graniterock headquarters in Watsonville. This is the fifth year Graniterock has opened its doors to provide a fun, safe environment for students to sharpen their algebra skills with college professors providing instruction.

Classes run 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 7-8 and Aug. 11-12 at Graniterock’s corporate office in Watsonville (350 Technology Drive). Students will visit CSUMB for a field trip and additional algebra work on Wed Aug 13. The Academy graduation ceremony will take place at 7 p.m., Thurs. Aug. 14 at the E.A. Hall Middle School auditorium in Watsonville.

Students from Aromas School, E.A. Hall Middle School, Pajaro Middle School, Rancho San Justo Middle School, Rolling Hills Middle School, San Juan Middle School and Tres Pinos Middle School will participate in this fifth year of the Bruce W. Woolpert Algebra Academy.

Graduates of the Academy are motivated by their experiences and advance to Algebra II and Pre-Calculus as high school sophomores and juniors, plan to attend four-year colleges, and are increasingly interested in future careers in STEM disciplines.

The Algebra Academy was started in 2010 by Graniterock’s former President and CEO Bruce W. Woolpert and corporate counsel Kevin Jeffery, who were passionate about the education of local students. They believed in the importance of students having a strong foundation in mathematics. Woolpert and Jeffery invited CSUMB Professor Hongde Hu to work with students at Watsonville’s Rolling Hills Middle School for the first Algebra Academy, and the program has grown in interest and impact from those beginnings.

Five ways the Algebra Academy has grown in recent years
  • Added four new middle schools and doubled enrollment to 110 from 55
  • Supported year-round Math clubs at individual campuses
  • Added field trips to CSUMB and UCSC and developed school Math festivals
  • Won a National Science Foundation Noyce Grant to place Cal Teach interns as Math club assistants
  • Moved from winter break to a more effective summer session before school starts
For more, visit www.algebraacademy.net.

Graniterock is a private, family-owned company that was founded on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1900. Graniterock has operations in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Seaside, Salinas, Hollister, Aromas, Felton, Oakland, San Jose, Redwood City and South San Francisco. The company supplies high-quality construction materials and its Construction Division is a significant regional heavy engineering contractor building roadways, airports and private commercial and residential projects.

For more information, contact:
Kevin Jeffery, VP Corporate Counsel 831.768.2103
Keith Severson, Marketing Manager 831.768.2063
Graniterock, 888.ROCK.100