Upper School Students Lead the Way in Math, STEM Mentorships Across Divisions

At Ravenscroft this year, Upper School students brought the values of Lead From Here to life—channeling their academic passions into real-world, cross-divisional mentorships that benefit the school community.

Several student-driven initiatives in math and STEM have built strong bridges between the Upper and Middle School divisions. Whether offering tutoring sessions, coaching math competitions or introducing coding to younger learners, these students are leading by example.

Math Lab: A Peer-Powered Model

Carleigh Cates ’28 developed and launched the idea for a cross-divisional math mentorship program, connecting Upper School tutors with Middle School learners through Math Lab.

Middle School math teacher Erin Altshuler hosts Math Lab during tutorial and recess periods, offering students extra help with assignments and concept mastery. A weekly schedule is posted so students—or their teachers—can sign up as needed. Upper School tutors work alongside Altshuler to answer questions, review problems or reteach material.

“I also tell Upper School students that they are students first,” Altshuler said. “They can always opt out of a session to focus on their own work.”

The idea to bring in peer tutors began last year with Carleigh Cates ’28. Now a ninth grader, Cates reflected on how she realized that explaining math problems to others helped reinforce her own understanding.

“It occurred to me one night while I was helping my brother that people who had already taken the class might be able to explain it in a way that makes more sense to a Middle School student,” she said.

Cates brought her idea to Associate Head of Middle School Nicole Brown, who said, “She spoke passionately about connecting Upper School students with Middle School students as tutors. Math became the starting point because Math Lab already existed. Carleigh spent time that summer developing a plan and returned with a specific proposal.”

The program has been a success, offering academic support, leadership opportunities and community service hours. “As the volunteers help younger students, they give back to their community,” Cates said.

Math Olympiad: Reviving a Favorite Challenge

As Matthew Madewell ’26 explained in a PowerPoint presentation, Math Olympiad is “one of the most influential and fun-filled math competition programs in the United States and throughout the world, with over 120,000 students from every state and 39 participating countries.”

Madewell, president of the Upper School Math Club, “was thinking of ways that I could elevate the club and make a difference,” and launched a Middle School Math Olympiad team this year. Inspired by his own experience in the global math competition, Madewell pitched the idea to Altshuler, Head of Middle School Bernardo Guzman and Head of Upper School Aaron Sundstrom.

A small group of Middle School students met weekly before school from November to March to tackle Olympiad problems and compete in monthly contests.

Matthew Madewell ’26 (left) led this group of Middle School students through a five-month Math Olympiad Challenge.

“Matthew often sent out weekly reminders and agendas. I was so impressed with his leadership and drive,” Altshuler said.

Madewell said he was proudest of three outcomes: students stayed committed for the full five months, most achieved personal best scores on the final contest and collaboration grew significantly.

“This program was months long and there were times students didn’t get any answers right,” he said. “But they kept coming back. When they started discussing problems together, their scores improved.”

Computer Science Outreach

Upper School members of the National Computer Science Honors Society, led by Upper School computer science teacher and robotics co-coach Mariam Elias, extended their mentorship across divisions as well—bringing hands-on coding experiences to Middle and Lower School advisory groups.

The team introduced younger students to robotics and programming concepts using tools like Sphero Indi and Sphero BOLT+.

“Students share their love and passion for science and technology through interactive sessions, providing an engaging and accessible introduction to coding concepts through screen-free robot technology,” Elias says.

Sphero Indi is a screen-free, color-coded robotic car designed to teach young learners the fundamentals of programming and problem-solving. Instead of using a computer or tablet, students guide Indi by placing different colored tiles on the floor, each representing a specific command—such as turning, stopping, or increasing speed.

With Sphero BOLT+, students explore block coding, where they program the spherical robot to navigate through a course using a visual drag-and-drop coding interface. This allows them to experiment with sequencing, loops and logic in a fun and interactive way.

Ethan Axler ’26 said mentoring younger students helped him embody Lead From Here principles. “I’m leading a group using skills I learned explicitly from Ravenscroft and my classes.”

Eleanor Mowat ’25 echoed Axler’s sentiment. “Especially for coding, a big connection with Lead from Here would be the need to be resilient, as technology bugs can often be frustrating to deal with, and you have to learn when you need to take a break and come back to it with a fresh start.”

Jonas Lisson ’25 (top) and Zach Peverall ’25 shared their coding expertise with our youngest Ravens—Melina Dahdal ’38 (front), Scott Kutner ’38 and Julianna Gomez Menzies ’38; Middle School students explore coding concepts using Sphero Indi, a screen-free robotic car introduced through the Upper School National Computer Science Honors Society’s cross-divisional mentorship program.

Building One School, Together

Middle School administrators say these peer-led initiatives highlight the best of Ravenscroft culture.

“It’s so beautiful to see older students participate in programming that forges meaningful connections. Younger students get support, of course, but they are also able to picture themselves as Upper School students, as capable mathematicians and future mentors,” Brown said. “Our best work happens when we build bridges across divisions and remind ourselves that we are one school family.”

Guzman agreed. “These cross-divisional programs show students living out our mission and Lead From Here. We love when students are the innovators and we get to follow their lead. We hope programs like these will continue to flourish.”

Eleanor Mowat ’25 helps (from left) Addy Pellicciotti ’31, Haylo Mondschein ’31 and Sadie Becher ’31 navigate a coding challenge using the Sphero BOLT+ robot.