The UC Irvine Math Community Educational Outreach (MATH CEO) is an innovative comprehensive university-community partnership that links grade 6-12 youth in Southern California with UC Irvine faculty, undergraduate and graduate student mentors.

UCI Math CEO partners with schools and families in Southern California to provide (at no cost):

A math after-school program for middle school students that engages youth in fun and interesting mathematics, with caring UCI undergraduate mentors.

A math after-school program for high school students that showcases the relevance of STEM and leads to a deep understanding of math/science concepts.

An engaging and challenging math curriculum designed by UCI faculty to enhance understanding and appreciation of mathematics.

Parental Sessions, consisting of college-orientation workshops for middle school parents, run by UCI faculty, students and admission staff.

Coaching of college mentors to work effectively with youth, with emphasis on math content, inquiry-based pedagogy and logical reasoning.

STEM-focused field trips to UCI to raise youths’ interest in STEM and their familiarity with college.

A student working on activities.

Our Activities

The main activities of the UCI Math CEO program are the weekly 60-90 minutes long afterschool math sessions where school kids work with UCI mentors in small groups on fun and challenging math problems. Through these weekly sessions, school kids not only gain confidence in tackling math problems but also develop close bonds with UCI students. 

Most of the Math CEO sessions take place on the UCI campus; hence, the school kids gain an invaluable sense of belonging and familiarity with college. Math CEO aims for its students to acquire the mindset that they have the ability and perseverance to solve challenging problems, and to learn that UCI is an integral part of their community –it is a welcoming place for them to begin their adventure towards a bright and productive future.                                    

Math CEO is intentionally structured around pillars that the education literature has identified as features of successful STEM afterschool programs.

Pillars

 

Emphasis on positive youth-mentor relationships
Use of high logical thinking
Meaningful engagement of families
Continuity (to sustain, and not just spark, interest in STEM)
Engagement in inquiry
Ongoing assessment for quality improvement

ACTIVITIES

Math CEO started activities in 2014-2015. In fall 2019 and winter 2020 Math CEO worked with 357 middle school and high school students, across 6 schools. A total of 88 meetings were offered in a span of 17 weeks, serving between 137 and 226 students each week. Over 100 UC Irvine students volunteered as mentors.

As instruction transitioned to remote learning in spring 2020, Math CEO has sought to maintain and strengthen the bonds between UCI students and its underserved school kids. Weekly meetings via Zoom resumed in mid-April and continued for six weeks through May. Besides the technical issues of hosting Zoom meetings, Math CEO has had to redesign its original curriculum and recreate its teaching materials to be compatible with an online format. This resulted in a rethinking of how to engage underserved school kids in an optional afterschool program online.

In 2021, we resumed our program to in person meetings, mostly at UCI. From 2020 to 2026, we have engaged more than 1,350 Middle School and High School students, as well as more than 700 undergraduate mentors.

As of 2026, Math CEO continues to offer free math activities to students.