Three weeks ago we found Belizean scientist Arlie Petters in Price Barracks where he was teaching Belize Defense Force cadet officers basic mathematics principles. It was part of his Dangriga based Petters Research Institute's way of giving back to the country of his birth. Today that program that ran parallel to another one in Dangriga came to a close and 7NEWS was invited to see the accomplishments of both the cadet officers as well as other students who received intensive schooling in math and science.

Alfonso Noble Reporting,
After completing a 3 week summer program in math and science at the Petters Institute in Dangriga 19 students received certificates. They along with cadets from the Belize Defense Force went through the program to be better equipped in the fields. Dr. Arlie Petters is the innovator of the program.

Dr. Arlie Petters,
"The mathematical curriculum dealt with pre-algebra, elementary algebra, intermediate algebra. We looked at coordinate geometry and for the advance students trigonometry. We also at the same time worked very closely at Price Barracks with the very best among our cadets. The officer cadets, I can tell you ladies and gentlemen, worked through five hundred mathematic and science problems over the past three weeks."

And after three weeks and based on the responses of the students in attendance they say the program has significantly made them view the subject in a completely different light.

Student #1,
"In the beginning it was kind of difficult. It is was like difficult because I was like oh my God this is new math and I haven't seen it before. But then after a while, when you start to adjust and you learn and they explain it you, it is really different and I love this program. I am so in love with it because it is...my gosh Dr. Petters did an amazing job. I think it should be continued. It really helps you a lot so it strengthened me a lot in math.

I was like not a math person in the beginning. Now I am able to stand up in front of, I guess all of you guys here, and explain a math solution and science; I am much better in science than I was before."

This BDF officer cadet shares that very sentiment.

Cadet #1,
"Over the three weeks we would do a daily routine with mock tests so, as Dr. Petters said, we covered over 500 different questions. So yes, our confidence in math has been boosted."

Alfonso Noble,
Do you think you are going to be excelling at your exams?

Cadet #1,
"I don't want to sound too boastful but yes, I hope so. With the practice we have done so far, I am sure that not only my scores but the other cadets. We're all going to get higher scores on the ACT math and science. I actually sat the ACT last year and I prepared for it on my own. So hence the reason I was not as confident as I should have been, the preparation was not as much as invested over the three weeks. So this will help more than any self-preparation could have helped."

And Petters says that is exactly the goal of the program especially in a world where math and science are of the utmost importance.

Dr. Arlie Petters,
"In this new century, the intellectual skills that will be important for modern life is the ability to reason analytically, to synthesize information from diverse sources, to weigh pros and cons. These types of skills one readily obtains through a rigorous training in mathematics and scientific reasoning. This is the main reason why we continue to emphasize this sort of development in our students and our soldiers.

You are looking at a new generation of analytical minds that our institute, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Defense, is trying to develop for our nation. They are future leaders and they will drive forth the new technologies for our country and continue to lead the way for the next generation behind them."

Brig. General Lloyd Gillett, BDF Commander
"What we have been doing over the last three weeks is thinking big and forward looking. Therefore Belize will advance and progress. We will advance and progress because we have begun to inspire the future engineers, the future scientists, and the future leaders that are necessary to take Belize into the 21st century. Our challenge is two fold: how to inspire our youths and then how to provide them with the opportunities to grow and to succeed."

Dr. Arlie Petters
"What we are trying to promote is that mathematics has very practical applications in everyday life. If you for example look at the posters presented by students, you will see applications to retirement planning, tumor growth, in fact structural ability, hurricane statistics and on and on. So in modern times you cannot get away but to look at mathematics and also scientific reasoning."

Because of the success of this year's summer program Petters says his institute will invest even more not only to captivate the students but to ensure that teachers are equipped to impart the knowledge in math and science.

Dr. Arlie Petters
"The general goal of the institute is to have a center of excellence in mathematics, science, and technology for Belize by Belizeans and one of the immediate goals we are going to do in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Defense is to look very carefully at elementary school math and science training. One of our big emphasis will be with teaching training in particular. It is a subject that by its nature requires a good deal of energy and that is the difficulty that people always refer to. But I believe anyone can learn mathematics. And therefore what I am implying is that we need to strengthen the pedagogy side. If you make it interesting, relevant to everyday life, then you will get more interested and want to exert the energy it takes to master it."

For the Belize Defense Force it's a bit different, Brigadier General Lloyd Gillett says he's looking at the Petters Institute to improve the quality of leaders the BDF will have.

Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett,
"Maths and science are very important for getting into the U.S. service academies. The ACT scores play a significant role in determining whether a candidate gets accepted or not. And so we have found that this is a weakness in our students and so I thought it would be right for us to collaborate with Dr. Petters in designing this program and getting our cadets the training they need to succeed. I am also looking to talk to Dr. Petters in seeing how we can get more scholarships at the graduate level so that when these kids come back, they can advance from just a first degree."

In the end the reason for accessing Petters' knowledge is important but more so is the end result where the complexities of math and science are made simple enough for students to not be intimidated by it.

Petters says his institute will continue the work focusing on training teachers in the areas of math and science.