By Dylan Deprey
Whether its playing card games or solving equations, Funky Fresh Math Nights fills the Sherman Phoenix. (Photo by Dylan Deprey)
There are two Funky Fresh employees making spring rolls. One is making the buffalo chicken and kale spring roll. The other is making the chicken, broccoli, mushroom and feta. The first employee is newer and it takes exactly one minute for two rolls. The other employee is a veteran and can crank eight spring rolls per minute.
A party of 20 comes in and they want 40 of each flavor. How many minutes will it take for the employees to complete the order? (Answer is at the bottom)
As the school year winds down, and students scramble to finish their homework, Funky Fresh Spring Rolls is giving youth the opportunity to finish their assignments in a different setting. For the past several weeks, the healthy fast food joint has dedicated Thursday nights to solving equations and dissecting diagrams during their Funky Fresh Math Nights.
Trueman McGee, Funky Fresh owner, has been offering healthier alternatives since the Sherman Phoenix opened earlier this year. As a business owner and entrepreneur, he has been using math since he left high school, but it wasn’t until a former educator and frequent customer proposed the idea for a night dedicated strictly to arithmetic.
Mary Mooney, McGee’s former math teacher, proposed the idea for tutors, parents, students and the community to tackle math under the Sherman Phoenix.
Trueman McGee offers different Funky Fresh flavors to Chad Roulette, Darrion Redd and Celina Redd in between problems on Math Night. (Photo by Dylan Deprey)
“She’s ultra-passionate about math and applying it to everyday life,” McGee said. “We’ve kept in contact since high school and she frequently shops at Funky Fresh. She asked if we could do a math night and I thought it was an awesome idea.”
As tutors talk through problems with students and their parents, McGee supplies the brain food. He passes out some of Funky Fresh’s popular flavors to patrons doing homework and playing math games.
He said the turnout has been pretty good over the past month.
“There has been a sprinkling of different families and tutors that have come through,” McGee said. “I feel like even if one person came and they were affected in a positive way, then it has been a win.”
He also saw the event as an opportunity to give back to the community. After the first event, he had gotten support from local businesses, families and athletes through donations.
“As business owners, we have a responsibility to take from the community but to also give back,” McGee said.
Celina Redd and her son Darrion are Sherman Phoenix regulars. They have attended the last three events. Redd said she thought it was a fun and different way to help her son with his homework.
“I think with anybody that has children, it’s easier for somebody else to help out with homework sometimes,” Redd said. “I can help somebody else’s kid with math because I have that different perspective, but because I’m ‘mom,’ I don’t always have the answers.”
Redd added that there were different ways to get correct answers with math, and along with an ever-changing State curriculum, the different perspectives in the room made it easier for youth to learn.
“I am good at math, I took calculus and algebra in college, but this is a totally different from what we know,” Redd said.
Chad Roulette is a former MPS teacher. He met McGee while working at Bradley Tech. He said he could relate to the high stakes feeling of trying to teach a discouraged student. He said the event gave everybody an opportunity to get out of the classroom and into a chill setting.
“I get it, parents can get frustrated after a day at work and, it can be difficult,” Roulette said. “This is just us hanging out and having fun.”
Funky Fresh Spring Rolls plans to continue on hosting Math Nights for the school year. For more information visit: https://funkyfresh.kitchen/
As for the giant order of spring rolls the group ordered earlier, it will be done in 25 minutes.