INVENTOR OF THE MONTH

Raynece Leader-Thompson

September marks the start of a new school year. With that in mind, we decided to honor Raynece Leader-Thompson as our “Inventor of the Month.” Raynece is a 17 year old high school senior in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She saw a need to help others learn and enjoy math. Therefore, Raynece created a solution to that problem and is now marketing it through a business she and her mother founded.

Four years ago when Raynece Leader-Thompson was in the eighth grade she participated in the “Invention Convention” program at her middle school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After considering, many ideas she decided on a math game now called “Math-a-Mania.” Raynece was motivated by realizing how many of her classmates struggled with basic math. Her own mother introduced her to math in fun and creative ways when she was younger. This early introduction caused her to be very comfortable with numbers and inspired her to want others to share her joy of math. She received an “A” for her project.

Raynece’s game greatly impressed her teachers and fellow students. In response to a growing demand, she and her mother decided to manufacture the game so it could be made available to the public. Raynece is now 17 years old and will be entering her senior year at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, OK. As a result of this game, she and her mother formed a business called Math Workz, LLC.

As vice president of Math Workz, LLC, her duties include marketing, scheduling appointments, making public appearances, hiring contract labor, over seeing production of math-a-mania and quality control. She also hand picked a group of six high school students that she has trained to demonstrate math-a-mania to large groups of students and organizations.

Raynece is frequently invited to schools and organizations to speak to students and other groups about her game and how it all came about. Her hope is to inspire other students to not only dream, but to take steps to attain their dreams. She says “If I can do it so can you. You’re only held back when you give up.”

Currently math-a-mania is sold in four retail stores in the Tulsa area as well as on line at www.mathworkz.com. “Our goal is to show children that math really can be fun to learn!!” says Raynece.