Stuart J. Murphy - MathStart Books (Visual Learning)

On my travels through India last year, I had the privilege of meeting Raju Shahani, who told me about the Christel House school in Bangalore, one of six schools for underprivileged kids started by a remarkable woman from Indianapolis named Christel DeHaan. When Christel sold her company, time-share vacation pioneer Resort Condominiums International, 12 years ago, she resolved to devote the next part of her life to philanthropy. Christel House International (CTI) was founded to help children around the world break the cycle of poverty by providing food, shelter, medical care, and a first-rate education. Along with reading and math, “children are taught the importance of caring, sharing and making a difference” at Christel House schools. As Christel’s own story illustrates, success in life means finding ways to help others. There are now Christel House schools in Bangalore, India; Mexico City, Mexico; Cape Town, South Africa; Caracas, Venezuela; and Indianapolis in the U.S. In addition, CTI sponsors a Scholars Program for children from displaced families in Serbia. Many thanks to Diana Lam, CTI’s vice-president for Global Education and Community Outreach (and former deputy chancellor for Teaching and Learning at New York City’s Department of Education) for sending these photos of students in India reading my books. Wow! Math really is a universal language!