About Us
DuPont Youth is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing mathematical modeling as a central pillar of rigorous mathematics education for middle and upper school students. We believe students develop true mathematical strength not simply by mastering procedures, but by learning to interpret complex situations, make assumptions, and defend their reasoning.
Traditional school mathematics has often relied on well-structured exercises designed to build foundational skills. While effective for introducing techniques, these exercises alone do not prepare students to navigate ambiguity, evaluate competing information, or apply mathematics to real decisions. DuPont Youth extends beyond procedural mastery by engaging students in problems that are authentic, open-ended, and intellectually demanding.
Our instructional materials are built around illustrated mathematical episodes — rich, story-driven scenarios in which students encounter situations with multiple solution paths and unevenly weighted information. Students must determine what matters, construct mathematical representations, and justify the assumptions they make along the way.
To bring these episodes to life, internationally acclaimed illustrator Alecos Papadatos (Logicomix) creates vivid, expressive artwork paired with spirited dialogue among student characters. These characters 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 and human dimensions of mathematical pursuit.
Middle Maths
MiddleMaths, our flagship series, is a collection of 48 illustrated narratives following three classmates as they navigate both the dramas of adolescence and the challenges of mathematical discovery. The mathematical scope aligns with middle-grade standards, including number sense, functions, geometry, and algebraic reasoning.
Through visual storytelling and authentic language, the episodes engage students emotionally as well as intellectually, inviting them to see mathematics as something lived and experienced rather than merely performed.
Each problem requires students to translate real situations into mathematical form and interpret their conclusions in context — in other words, to engage in genuine mathematical modeling.
MiddleMaths is available to students, parents, and teachers in multiple formats, complete with illustrated storyboards, guided explanations, and facilitation supports.
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International Competitions
DuPont Youth’s work in mathematical modeling includes the design of international team competitions built around authentic, ill-structured problems—what many educators call “wicked problems.” These ten-day modeling challenges invited students to navigate incomplete information, competing assumptions, and multiple solution pathways while presenting evidence through narrative, data analysis, and visual representation. While these contests highlighted the creativity and intellectual courage of participating students, they also revealed an important limitation: competitions alone do not build the instructional infrastructure required for widespread adoption, particularly within IB schools seeking programmatic integration rather than isolated enrichment.
Guided by this insight, DuPont Youth has evolved its strategy toward the creation of the Mathematical Modeling Teacher Pack—a robust professional resource designed to embed modeling directly into classroom practice. The Teacher Pack translates the spirit of competition problems into teachable modeling episodes supported by facilitation guides, assessment rubrics, readiness scaffolds, and alignment to IB frameworks. This evolution reflects our belief that lasting impact comes not from how many contests we host, but from how many teachers are equipped to lead students through authentic modeling experiences as part of their daily mathematical lives.
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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