The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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August 26, 2008

PEGASYS’ Quarles is seeking corporate sponsorships for extended Math Mania programming

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer

Math Mania is one of the most popular programs on Enid’s public-access television station, and now they are thinking of extending it longer.

PEGASYS Executive Director Wendy Quarles said during Tuesday’s monthly board meeting kids keep calling in for assistance with math, and it is hard to keep the program to 30 minutes. However, Quarles believes there is a need to pay the two Enid teachers who conduct the program.

“Those teachers come down right after school and do the show, and that’s hard. We need to pay them something,” she said.

PEGASYS is seeking corporate sponsorships to pay for the extended programming.

Math Mania is shown live 4-4:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. Two Enid teachers, Chris Smith and Jan Martin, work to help Enid students get through math problems. Quarles said she would like to extend the show to an hour from its current half-hour format.

“We get so many calls. A lot of kids never get through because the phone lines are jammed,” she said. “Some have speed dial and they get through.”

Quarles said her budget is $600 to extend the program, pay teachers and for technical costs.

“It’s a big commitment for those teachers to come in two days a week. They do up to 60 shows, and it’s a lot of commitment when they are rushing in after school and they have after-school activities,” she said. “They are donating a lot of time to this, and we need to compensate them for that. And, the kids really love them.”

One Enid fourth-grade student, an avid Math Mania fan, is embarking on a fundraising drive for PEGASYS to help raise money for the program.

Also during the meeting, board members voted to accept the resignation of chairman Jerry Butler, who is leaving Enid for another job. Terry DeBock, a representative of Autry Technology Center, was named chairman, and Amber Fitzgerald, representing Enid Public Schools, was named vice chairwoman, replacing DeBock.

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