LaChere Marsh recaps a geometry lesson to her class of seventh graders at Northwest R-V Middle School on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Kyle Hill, KMMO News)

For the third time in four years, middle school students at Northwest R-V Schools showed some of the strongest growth in mathematics, and part of it can be attributed to a handful of dance routines.

KMMO News recently visited the classroom of LaChere Marsh, who has taught math to 7th and 8th grade students in Hughesville for 17 years. Toward the end of her class, students demonstrated how to find the area of various shapes not by walking to the whiteboard to solve an equation, but by moving their arms and reciting the formula to a dance routine. Marsh says it’s one way she shares her enthusiasm for math with her students, and many of them are showing a greater interest.

Marsh, who has sponsored the cheer team in years past, says that experience helped her to develop ways for students to memorize formulas that regularly appear on tests.

That excitement has turned into exemplary scores on standardized tests at Northwest, with 58 percent of students ranking proficient or advanced. The growth shown year-over-year ranked the school first on the metrics compiled by the PRiME Center (Policy Research in Missouri Education) at St Louis University’s School of Education. It’s drawn the attention of larger schools, who Marsh says have been calling her, asking for advice and suggestions on how to improve their students’ performance. Marsh says she’s proud of her students for their accomplishments and the support from her colleagues.

Previous studies from St Louis University ranked Northwest R-V first in 2021 and 2022 for math growth, while ranking first in English and Language Arts growth last year.