Philly teacher uses Eagles player Saquon Barkley's stats to teach math
A second grade teacher in Philadelphia is using football to help her students score big in math.
Amber Kiley is running touchdowns in the classroom at MaST Community Charter School II with a little help from the Philadelphia Eagles.
"I knew coming into my first year I wanted to do something special and something different, so I decided, 'Let's run with the Eagles,'" Kiley told "Good Morning America."
Her students take inspiration from their hometown football team -- the Eagles -- practicing their math skills by counting rushing statistics held by Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.
"I decided we'll start tracking his rushing yards, and I didn't know how they were going to take it, but they loved it," Kiley recalled.
The Eagles recently beat the Washington Commanders 55-23 on Jan. 26 to earn their second NFC Championship in three seasons, their third in eight seasons. Barkley, who signed with the Eagles last March after playing with the New York Giants for six seasons, helped lead the team to victory and clinch a spot in Super Bowl LIX, following a historic regular season in which he racked up over 2,000 rushing yards.
The second graders in Kiley's class have embraced their football-inspired lessons as they learn place values and even watch football highlights as part of their math curriculum.
"Even beyond the sports part of it, it's fostering that nice community environment here," Kiley said. "We tie our football into our community. So they are learning about the community around us."
Football has also taught Kiley's class non-math values too, including kindness, selflessness and perseverance.
"They've learned to never give up. They learn to work as a team. They've learned that things get tough and it's not always going to go your way," said Kiley.
The students' hard work has also paid off in other ways: Ahead of the Eagles' Super Bowl LIX matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 9, Fanatics sent Kiley and her second graders Eagles T-shirts to cheer on their favorite team.
