About Us
DuPont Youth is a nonprofit organization advancing mathematical modeling as a cornerstone of a rigorous mathematics education for middle and upper school students. We believe students develop lasting mathematical strength not only through procedural skills, but by learning to interpret complex situations, make defensible assumptions, and apply mathematics to real decisions.
Traditional mathematics instruction has long relied on well-structured exercises to build foundational techniques. But these approaches alone do not prepare students to reason through authentic problems. Our materials are built around illustrated mathematical episodes — story-driven scenarios in which students confront situations with multiple solution paths and unevenly weighted information. In these episodes, students must determine what matters, construct mathematical models, and defend their reasoning.
To bring these experiences to life, internationally acclaimed illustrator Alecos Papadatos (co-creator of Logicomix) develops vivid artwork paired with spirited dialogue among student characters. These narratives are inspired in part by the true story of young competitors who traveled across the United States to win a national mathematics competition — capturing both the intellectual rigor and human drama of mathematical discovery.
Middle Maths
MiddleMaths, our flagship series, is a collection of 48 illustrated narratives following three classmates as they navigate the dual challenges of adolescence and mathematical discovery. The mathematical content aligns with middle-grade standards, including number sense, functions, geometry, and algebraic reasoning.
Through visual storytelling and authentic dialogue, each episode engages students emotionally as well as intellectually — presenting mathematics not as a set of exercises, but as lived experience.
Every investigation asks students to translate real situations into mathematical form and interpret their conclusions in context — the essence of genuine mathematical modeling.
MiddleMaths is available for students, parents, and teachers in multiple formats, including illustrated storyboards, guided explanations, and facilitation supports.
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International Competitions
Historically, mathematical modeling competitions have provided powerful platforms for student creativity, collaboration, and applied problem solving. Building on this tradition, DuPont Youth created Wicked Maths — a series of international team competitions centered on complex, authentic scenarios requiring students to navigate ambiguity, construct assumptions, and defend their conclusions.
These contests produced imaginative student work and affirmed the intellectual reach of modeling. They also revealed a structural challenge: large-scale competitions alone do not substantially expand the number of schools able to implement modeling deeply — particularly within IB and independent school settings where teacher preparation and curricular integration are essential.
In response, DuPont Youth developed the Mathematical Modeling Teacher Pack — a classroom-ready field guide designed to help educators implement modeling through structured, flexible episodes. The Pack includes ill-structured problems, instructional protocols, assessment frameworks, student exemplars, and IB-aligned implementation pathways and are available for teachers and tutors in multiple formats.
By investing directly in teacher practice, the Teacher Pack supports sustainable program growth and expands access to authentic modeling experiences far beyond the competition arena.
Catch Fire is DuPont Youth’s remote mathematics program designed for capable but disengaged students — young people who can perform procedures but have lost interest, curiosity, or mathematical confidence. Using the classic Harold Jacobs textbooks, Catch Fire rebuilds conceptual understanding and procedural fluency through discussion-based instruction that treats mathematics as a human, sense-making endeavor rather than a sequence of steps to memorize.
More than tutoring, Catch Fire serves as a re-engagement pathway into authentic mathematical thinking. As students rediscover reasoning, diagramming, and explanation, they develop the intellectual habits necessary for collaborative problem solving and mathematical modeling. The remote format allows small cohorts of students — regardless of geography — to experience mathematics as conversation, exploration, and shared discovery, preparing them to transition into deeper modeling work and team-based investigations.
Our Founders
du Pont Youth was founded through a collaboration between an educational leader in mathematical modeling and an internationally recognized visual storyteller, united by a shared belief that young students are capable of serious, creative thinking when given authentic problems.
James King
James King holds both graduate and undergraduate degrees in Mathematics from the University of Delaware where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow, a DuPont Scholar and a TA in both computer science and mathematics. He is the author of Mathematics for Talented (or Just Plain Curious) Kids and Lucy: The Puzzle of the Vanishing Kittens, with Alecos Papadatos. Over his twenty-year teaching career, he has served as lead mathematics instructor at independent day schools in New York City, Indiana, and Oregon. For several years he was a Title 1 Mathematics Specialist for two school districts in Maryland, where he oversaw a performance-based mathematics program for thirty schools, seventy-five faculty members, and three thousand students. He also has served on the Boards of Harlem School of the Arts (NYC) and Shattuck St. Mary's School (Faribault MN).
Alecos Papadatos
Alecos Papadatos studied Economics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and then Philosophy at the University of Sorbonne. His passion and artistic talent for story-telling through sketches and drawing turned into his profession. He designed and illustrated the graphic novels Logicomix, Democracy, and Aristotle, in collaboration with a variety of brilliant writers and publishers. In 2023, Alecos set up a training program for young people in Greece on Animation Storyboarding, a course designed to help young professionals promote their projects and spread their wings abroad. Alecos brings problem-solving to life in the Wicked contests and Middle Maths projects.
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