When we hear the word innovation, many of us think of groundbreaking tech breakthroughs or multi-million-dollar inventions. While those are certainly impressive, innovation is just as much about reimagining what already exists through a fresh lens.
This idea came into sharp focus a few weeks ago when we attended the Stride Spark Innovation Summit, hosted by Stride, a global leader in K-12 online education. The summit brought together 20 professionals deeply embedded in online learning and edtech, each offering unique perspectives on what innovation means. The discussions centered on bridging institutionalized education with innovative approaches—a challenge that often feels as incompatible as mixing oil and water.
Our task? To pitch a scalable, innovative solution to a real-world educational problem.
Reimagining Math Education
As educators, we hold a dual responsibility: to prepare students for academic success and to equip them for life beyond the classroom. Our pitch centered around a simple but powerful idea:
“If you want kids to care about math, teach them about money.” 🚀
Math is often perceived as an abstract, distant concept for students. But what if we flipped the narrative? What if math could feel relevant today—not tomorrow? We proposed an approach that bridges institutionalized education with innovation by teaching math through the lens of real-world money management.
The Catalyst: SEL Meets Math
If oil and water don’t mix, the solution is to add a catalyst. In our case, that catalyst is the combination of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and math. This pairing empowers students to explore emotions like joy, anxiety, and confidence while learning foundational math concepts like addition and subtraction.
By connecting emotions with financial concepts—like debits and credits—we teach more than numbers. We focus on the psychology of money and how individuals relate to it. Kids learn to navigate their feelings about money while building practical, confidence-boosting skills that they can use in their daily lives.
Through this approach, students experience the relevance of math in their everyday lives. They see math not as a chore but as a tool—a means to understand and shape their world.
Creating Our Vision
As part of our pitch, we were tasked with creating a commercial to showcase our concept. The clock was ticking, but within just a few days, we brought our vision to life! It was an incredible opportunity to distill our message and share our mission of making math matter. Watch below.
At its core, our pitch aimed to redefine how we approach education. Math, often viewed as abstract and irrelevant, can become practical, empowering, and deeply personal when connected to something as universal and personal as money.
By bridging innovation and education, we can create classrooms where students aren’t just solving equations—they’re building futures. And that’s what innovation is really about.