Athens Middle School eighth-grader Haley Chittam, 13, tackles a math problem during a TEAM session Thursday. Technology Exploration Advancing Mathematics, which meets for an hour, five days per week, is a pilot program designed to ensure students are prepared for high school math courses

Forty students at Athens Middle School are taking part in a pilot program designed to boost their math skills and prepare them for high school curriculum.

The pilot program is patterned after Khan Academy, which is a free math learning program available online to the public.

The AMS version is called TEAM, or Technology Exploration Advancing Mathematics, and began on Jan. 6.

“Kahn Academy is a website that helps you get better with math and what you’re struggling with,” said eighth-grader Haley Chittam, 13, who has boosted 91 of her math skills through TEAM.

“It gives you examples to practice your skills, and you have to answer five questions in a row (to move to the next skill),” said eighth-grader Alexis Woods, who has improved 95 of her skills. “It’s helped me a lot with fractions.”

AMS teachers Amanda Gudmundsson, Vickie Hays and Ana Rosales are supervising TEAM, which meets for a one-session daily during the school week.

The students are provided all of their school supplies and they have access to Mac Air laptops. They also can ask for assistance from all three teachers and progress at their own pace.

School officials said they are tracking the students’ improvements with the hopes the program will be expanded.

“This lets us know how we’re doing. If (TEAM) works, it’s going to be tried system-wide,” said Hays.