FORT SMITH — Jasmine Jackson, a 9-year-old third-grader at St. Boniface School, has “automaticity,” a term coined by Renaissance Learning to describe the ability to recall math facts “instantly, accurately and effortlessly.”
Using their software, “Math Facts in a Flash,” after completing her regular school assignments, Jasmine completed all 71 levels, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals and percentages, by the second month of third grade. Her teacher, Daniel Weidman, believes she may be the only third grader in the country to have completed all 71 levels of “Math Facts in a Flash.”
“I called Renaissance Learning a long time ago to ask if any other third graders had finished all 71 timed tests, but they told me they don’t keep statistics on students,” he said. “The benchmark for students at the end of third grade is Level 20.”
The program is used as a supplement in every class at St. Boniface. Last year, Math Facts in a Flash only had 44 levels, and although some older students had reached the 44th level, Jasmine is the only student to have completed the 27 newly added levels — fractions and decimals designed to prepare students for algebraic thinking.
Because each set of 40 problems has a two-minute time limit, “there’s no time to use pencil and paper,” Jasmine said.
Her accomplishments in math have inspired her classmates and other students to develop that same “automaticity” that Jasmine has learned.
“She’s a great role model,” Weidman said.
Jasmine is the daughter of Dr. John and Eldesita Jackson of Poteau, Okla. She was born in Nebraska, moved to Montana as a young child and began attending St. Boniface in second grade, along with her sister Jessica, a first grader.
Her academic interests extend to other subjects as well. She loves to read “Babysitters Club” books, reads at a ninth-grade level and has recently become interested in learning more about her cultural heritage as a member of the Caddo Nation, a federally recognized Native American tribe whose capital is in Binger, Okla. She enjoys playing school with her younger sister. Her afterschool activities include piano and gymnastics.
She has expressed an interest in becoming president when she grows up, laughingly acknowledging that presidents need to be very good at math.
“Jasmine can be anything she wants to be when she grows up,” Weidman said.
