Grade nine students at Ecole Okotoks Junior High are using their math curriculum to bring some Christmas magic to a local family.

Students are creating a Christmas Hamper for the Okotoks Food Bank, choosing recipes they have at home during the holidays and sharing them with another family.

Angelica McDonald, OJ Science and Math teacher says not only does the project help someone in need, it also assists in student learning.

"What we're trying to do is connect math to real life, what I'm finding in the classroom is word problems and trying to connect math to real things is sometimes a little bit abstract for them. So I figured if we did something looking at rational numbers, and connecting it to the food bank supporting a family in the community that we'd have some real life practice for some of that stuff."

Students were put in groups with each taking care of one part of a Christmas Meal, from breakfast to dessert.

Each group was tasked with planning, buying, and budgeting their meal, and of course showing their work.

Student Sonny Vandervoort says the project was a nice break from general math assignments.

"It's pretty cool that we get to have fun with math and not just do assignment questions, you actually get to put it towards something."

Student Corey Matonovich agrees, adding it's the perfect time of year for a math project like this.

"There's some families that don't get as much, and they're not as fortunate as us. It just means that much more to help them out, and help them have a once in a life time Christmas, a Christmas to remember."

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