It is estimated that at least 61% of students try a sport at some time in high school, so why not have a math class about it? Statistics in Sports is a course offered here at Sterling High School which is taught by math teacher Joel Penne. This is Penne’s 13th year at Sterling, and Stats in Sports has been taught for 12 of those years.

While this course counts as a math credit, it is not a typical math class. Penne says, “What separates Stats in Sports from other math classes is the integration of math with science and English. Math can be seen in graphing and computation, but science is present when we do hypothesis testing and analysis. English is present when we draw conclusions and write about what evidence we have found.”

Senior Braden Hartman says his favorite part of Stats in Sports is “the experiments in class, when we shoot free throws in class on Friday to learn if underhand free throws or overhand free throws are more efficient.”

The class talks about sports like football, basketball, baseball, and hockey. Along with players like: Kevin Durant, Reggie Miller, Aaron Rodgers, Albert Pujols, Kirk Cousins, and Klay Thompson. They discuss athletes’ performance against athletes’ ability and how random chance is involved in every part of sports. Stats in Sports involve making bar graphs, pie charts, etc. Another thing Stats in Sports tries to do is be an introduction to statistics for students who have never heard of it.

Stats in Sports is a completely different math class than other ones that are offered at S.H.S. This class also catches the attention of student athletes.

Penne also said, “If you love talking about sports on a daily basis and researching your favorite athlete or team, then this would be the class for you.”