Detroit woman's 'Black Girl Mathgic' service helps kids battle math anxiety with fun

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A Detroiter is using subscription boxes to help Black girls improve their math skills. Her efforts are impacting tens of thousands of students nationwide.

Meet Brittany Rhodes, founder of "Black Girl Mathgic."

"What most of these STEM efforts are really missing is the math," she said. "Math is being treated as the appetizer when it’s really the entree," she said.

Anything is possible…with a little magic or in Brittany's case - a little Math-gic.

"I just found it to be really beautiful how you could can make numbers do all of these different things and how you can make numbers tell a story," she said. "When I graduated I had actually taken five math classes in four years and my senior year in high school I was in AP Calculus it was then when I was like, okay."

But as a child of an educator, Brittany realized at a young age, how many of her friends, specifically the girls, and even more specifically the Black girls, were suffering from math anxiety.

"It’s negative feelings around doing and solving math problems, so you can have physical manifestations of math anxiety - sweaty palms, tears," she said.

Avoidance is another manifestation of it.

An overwhelming number of studies show when it comes to STEM, subjects and jobs, women and girls are disproportionately suffering from math anxiety.

Which is why this Black girl from the east side of Detroit is doing her part to build up their confidence and change the narrative.

"How many times have we seen a kid’s TV show where the cute cheerleader or the jock is struggling in school? Nine times out of 10 what classes are they struggling in? Math and science class," she said. "If you want to be an architect you have to know a little geometry for that. If you want to be a pastry chef, oh my God, please know fractions so the cake doesn’t sink when it comes out the oven."

A love for math plus a knack for tutoring, plus a uniquely marketable idea - equals "Black Girl Mathgic" her very own business, inspired by a familiar model.

"I knew that a subscription box would be a great model because now I'm sending you something in the mail every single month that is going to help you kind of chip away at the ice block, so to speak, that math anxiety is," said Brittany.

BGM’s very first monthly subscription box was mailed out in 2019 and since then, it's been a smash.

"We have shipped over 6,000 boxes to over 35 states and Canada," she said.

And with all her success, Brittany is still running her business right here from Detroit.

"The math scores are the lowest they have ever been in the US since we started tracking math scores in the 70s, the lowest they have ever been," she said.

BMG has expanded based on demand. They’re offering materials for kindergarten to 2nd grade and quarterly subscription boxes for boys as well.

The website is: blackgirlmathgic.com

For FOX 2 viewers, Brittany is offering a discount with Coupon code FOX2 for 12% off the website which ends Nov. 30.