A trio of Western Albemarle High School (WAHS) math teachers is leading the charge in tackling deficiencies in the Standards of Learning (SOL) Algebra I pass rates that have manifested county-wide, particularly after the pandemic school closures. While in 2022 only about half of Western’s Algebra I students passed the end-of-course SOL, in 2023-24, that rate rose to 84% due to a creative and collaborative effort by teachers Erik Gauss, Paul Jarasak, and Barbara Wyatt along with school support staff and administrators.