PURVIS, MS (WDAM) – Eighth-grade Algebra 1 students at Purvis Middle School received a surprise by special guests outlining the importance of math on Monday. The goal is to help raise science and math scores in Mississippi classrooms.

Study experts from Algebra Nation, an online assistance program, surprised the students at school encouraging them to continue working hard.

“It was awesome, I love seeing them on the computer,” said eighth-grade student Katherine Ladner. “It’s awesome. Seeing them in person was amazing.”

Eighth-grade teacher Cononiah Watson said the online collaboration focuses on improving student achievement in Algebra 1, which is a required course for students.

“They work with different states in the U.S. They provide videos, extra practice and anything students need to help them in their Algebra 1 course work,” Watson said.

During the past couple of years, the Mississippi state legislature has funded the Algebra Nation pilot project in many schools across the state.

“The idea being that our science and math are really the area our students have the most trouble and need the most help,” said Mississippi Sen. Joey Fillingane. “In order to raise those scores and make sure we are still competitive to other states in the country, we felt it was very important to focus in on math and science.”

Students said they rely on the educational videos several times each week and their skill set will be beneficial for years to come.

“Well, basically our entire civilization is based on math, so you use it in pretty much everything,” Katherine said.

Algebra Nation pilot program districts experienced a 7.2 percent increase in the percentage of students scoring at Level 4 or 5 on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, compared to a 4.8 percent increase for non-Algebra Nation pilot program districts in the Spring 2017 Algebra 1 assessment.