‘A mountain of Milky Ways’: Elementary students learn fun math lesson with principal’s favorite candy

By Averie Klonowski

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    RIVERTON, Utah (KSTU) — Foothills Elementary School students brought in their principal’s favorite candy for the second year in a row, but this time they formed what they called “a mountain of Milky Ways.”

“If you’re a kid who loves milky ways that would be your heaven back there,” said sixth-grader Caden Hoarsley.

The faculty told FOX 13 News that even community residents buy the specific candy to help with the school-wide project.

“It’s something fun and engaging that everybody is kind of excited about,” said math teacher Chris Bernier.

Principal Abram Yospe said he has always done this throughout his teaching career, but it’s his second year as principal at Foothills and he enjoys making the request a teaching opportunity.

“It’s just been kind of a tradition that’s been built through the years. This is the second year at Foothills,” he said.

Now, classes are guessing how many Milky Ways have taken over the table.

“So fun to see how many Milky Ways are behind us right now. It’s amazing that all of these kids are participating,” said sixth-grader Sara Nelson.

Now, there is a campus-wide competition to see which class gets the closest to the actual number.

“We’re measuring all the Milky Ways and trying to find out how many there are,” said sixth-grader Wrigley Vest.

Sixth-grade students enjoyed the interactive learning with their peers.

“I think it’s fun because you get to add and multiply a bunch of different stuff,” said Nelson.

They measured the fun-size and the full-size bars, putting their math skills to the test to make the best estimate.

“It’s 3,477,” said Nelson.

But they’re also teaching young minds more than a math lesson.

“Definitely that sharing is caring and it’s always good to pitch in,” said Hoarsley.

The group that picks the best number will receive a prize that makes perfect sense: each student gets one of the full-size candy bars.

The project allowed faculty to see their students thrive, in a fun way.

“Love it when they get excited about learning,” said Bernier. “But it also teaches me that we’ve got to make sure to make our lessons real life, maybe use something they have background knowledge in, something that they’re familiar with, and of course they’re familiar with this candy. They’ve had it before, they’ve seen it many times, and being able to use it in real life I think makes it even more enjoyable for them.”

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