Nearly 100 Houston-area middle school students celebrated their hard work and college-track academic performance recently with a fun and exciting fall weekend at Camp Strake in Conroe, TX.

For many students, it was their first time camping out in the woods, away from the city lights and distractions. "You could walk and hear, every time you step, the leaves and branches crunching," said Iliana Lopez, a 7th grader from YES Prep West. "It's just a great way to reflect on what you've done, and leave all the problems back there."

Every Tuesday and Wednesday, a small group of students at O'Donnell Middle School meets during lunch or elective periods for an extra dose of mathematics.

The exercises -- hands-on, active, engaging -- are designed to spur deeper thinking and clearer understanding of the math principles that lie beneath any standardized test question.