Students Trade In Pencils For Hammers

Some Madison Middle School students traded in pencils and paper for tool belts and hard hats on Tuesday. They took part in a program called "If I Had A Hammer."

It's designed to help kids who have a tough time with math understand how numbers apply to the real world. Their homework was to build an eight by 11-foot house in just two and-a-half hours.

Program creator Perry Wilson says the project puts learning into a context the students can understand.

"I couldn't pass my math classes in school.  I became a carpenter and realized that basically all of this mathematics, when I quit taking math and started working with it that I could do it," said Wilson.

Madison students have struggled with standardized math tests in the past. They are the first TPS students to take part in the program.