Math. What comes to your mind when you think about that word? It's one that evokes different emotions for different people. Some love it, and some avoid it like the plague.

But being so intertwined with everyday life, mathematics should have a positive experience attached to it, and that is what Math Family Night is all about at L.B. Morris Elementary School in Jim Thorpe.On April 9, a good number of parents and their children attended the event, held annually for the past four years.Even in a foggy, cold, and rainy evening, Family Math Night had its best turnout yet.Kim Zoba, title 1 math coordinator, describes what defines the event. "It's a special time when parents and their children attending the school can engage in different math-based fun activities, and there are 26 stations to rotate through, some with measuring, graphing, adding, multiplying and such, and there's also computer games, and an electronic scavenger hunt on iPads with a QR code game app. We also partnered up with the Carbon County Animal Shelter, and they have a table with information, and one of their adopted pets."The school used the Math Night to offer an information table with questions and answers and tips for parents to prepare the students regarding the new PSSA testing and Common Core.While some parents are concerned about the new Common Core standards, the school and teachers are embracing the changes with a positive attitude and fun ways to prepare the students to succeed under the new testing.Zoba said, "Up to this point we're on target, we're not a focus or a priority school, we're a nondesignated school, so we've reached our goal. Of course we're a little nervous because we've done so well so far, so not knowing the changes Common Core will bring, it's a challenge, but I guess everybody is on the same boat."Some of the parents are reluctant, and I think it's because we don't know what's really going to happen; it's an unknown," Zoba said. "It's not that we are for it or against it, but it's something that right now it's a reality, so as teachers, I know that there are teachers in this building that are just embracing that, and trying to do the best they can to prepare the students for the test."The environment was festive and the children, as well as the parents, seemed to have been truly enjoying the math activities. Landon Thompson, a second-grader, was all smiles measuring and biting off pieces of his measuring subject, (a strand of Twizzlers) to measure again.