Sometimes the roles of parent and teacher intersect. Such was the case Tuesday night at Clanton Elementary, as the school hosted its annual Math and Science Night, an event based on the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI).

While that might sound complicated, it’s pretty simple. AMSTI requires students to know why they arrive at an answer, by teaching them to think through a problem rather than simply memorize a number or a statistic.

Tuesday night, parents who attended the event had the chance to ask questions to learn about AMSTI. A representative from the University of Montevallo hosted this session.

Then, the parents joined their students in the classroom for brief, hands-on activities dealing with math and science.

Even the contests required students to work their brains. Those who guessed closest to the correct number of items in a container got to keep the container and items inside.

This is the kind of event our schools should be hosting. Not only does it encourage parents to educate themselves about the curriculum, but it also fosters interaction between students and parents.

It goes to show, learning doesn’t have to be boring.