Don't close those doors!

"It's not as much about opening doors as it is about not closing them."

This right-on-the-money point made at the Green River Community College (GRCC) math night on Monday stuck with me. We constantly talk about how math opens doors and try our hardest to drive home the fact that the more math you know, the more job opportunities you will have. But talking about how students can actually close (and lock!) doors by NOT taking enough math is an even stronger statement that I really like.

It was made by Steve Willett, director of the XBox Live division at Microsoft. An incredibly successful, articulate, young (he presented in a sweater and khakis -- perfect because he was very relatable!) and well-traveled businessman, Steve shared his experiences with math and gave the 500 parents and students in the audience a clear picture of how math is used in the gaming industry. From actual projected salaries for various jobs on his team to examples of how every part of game development (from art to production) is rooted in math, Steve was engaging and inspirational --and no wonder, he's also a past teacher!

This is the second year GRCC has held their parent night through Project TIME (Transitions In Math Education), an outreach program aimed at better preparing young students for college and employment-level mathematics. Held on the GRCC campus, the event ran like a well-oiled machine with all the essentials -- food, childcare, various booths with math activities and services, and most popular with students: door prizes!

State Sup. Terry Bergeson also made an appearance as did Dylan Halliwell from Seattle U, Barbara Grohe from the Kent School District and Kasi Wells, a student from GRCC.

I watched as a father and son sitting at the table in front of me listened to each speaker. Every now and then the father would nod in agreement with something that was said and then turn to his son to see if it was hitting home. As teenagers do, his son gave no obvious reaction, but hopefully the event had a positive impact.

At the very least, I hope it helped to open a perhaps previously closed door.