While some students might return to school feeling a little rusty when it comes to getting back into the academic swing of things, a few South Bay students have been working this summer on staying sharp.

Middle and high school students from districts in Campbell, Cupertino and San Jose have been participating in the Elevate Math program from the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. The program is designed to help C-average and below-grade-level students brush up on some of the mathematical concepts they learned in previous grades before taking on new courses when the academic year starts up in a few weeks.

According to program organizers, Elevate Math aims to better prepare students for high school and college-level math classes during the four-week program. Students are taught math topics such as variables, linear equations, graphs and other basic math foundation concepts for algebra and geometry.

Students brush up on skills in classrooms and while working collaboratively with fellow classmates. Visitors teach students the importance of math skills in relation to future careers.

Earlier this month at Del Mar High School, students heard from Oracle research labs employee Randall Smith about how to visualize numerical data and how the mathematical concepts they’re learning can be applied to careers like his. Smith had students toss bean bags and measure the distance between them, then collect the data and input them into a spreadsheet.

“I want the students to learn the importance of statistics and visualizing data,” Smith said, adding his activity would help students to grasp the visualization concept.

Smith has been an Oracle employee for nearly 20 years.

“This game gets them invested in the concepts they are learning,” he said.

Boynton High School teacher Tim Reynolds said this is his first year teaching the Elevate Math program to students.

“We’re trying to give them the skills they need for the next level of math and help them with the brain drain of summer break,” he said.

Reynolds said students also spent time working together on smaller lessons that also involved games.

Founded in 2008, Elevate Math has more than 3,500 students enrolled from 40 school districts. The program reaches students beyond Santa Clara County and in Bay Area cities like San Francisco and Oakland. An additional program is located in Oregon.

“Our program is proven to deliver effective intervention that increases math learning and prepares students for the rigorous challenges in high school and college,” said Silicon Valley Education Foundation CEO Muhammed Chaudhry in a press statement. “With one in four jobs of the future requiring strong math skills, it’s critical that students have a good math foundation. It’s our responsibility to prepare them for the workplace and the future needs of our global world.”