NATCHEZ — At Natchez High School, students sat at their desk, concentrating and drawing graphs.

School won’t be in session for another month, but at the 9-12th grade Math Camp, students were already getting a leg up on their work for the upcoming year.

The camp started Tuesday and ran through Friday.

Birdette Hughey, common core specialist from Bailey Education Group, led the camp.

“We push them with functions,” Hughey said.

Originally, students were introduced to functions in the eighth grade.

“We dropped them into some of the higher levels of it,” Hughey said.

Phillip Knight, a retired math teacher who taught at Wesson High School, assisted Hughey.

Cecelia Erinne and Bobbie Harris from Natchez Freshman Academy also helped run the camp. Erinne is a math teacher and Harris teaches social studies.

Harris wanted to see how math coincided with her subject. It wasn’t too much of a stretch, since there were plenty of real world scenarios Hughey and the others gave students.

“We make this very investigation intensive,” Hughey said.

For their activities, students were allowed to draw on their paper, desks and, in group projects, on windows — all with washable markers.

The drawings helped students visualize problems, like when they had to figure out how to get electricity, gas and water to three condos without the lines touching.

Students also created lists of goals and expectations for themselves and their teachers to follow.

“It allowed us to get to know them,” Hughey said.

Because the camp runs from 8:30 a.m. to noon, longer than the average math class, teachers had more flexibility.

“We’re still giving them the skills but they have more time to digest it,” Hughey said.

Charmaine Brown, 14, is the daughter of Jaquela Lyles and Charles Brown. She’s going to be a student at the Natchez Early College Academy.

She said the teachers are very patient.

“They break it down so you can understand,” Brown said.

Coming to the camp wasn’t a difficult decision for Brown.

“Math’s my favorite subject and I needed more help in it,” she said.

The camp offered more than just high school preparation though. It also offered a strong element of career and ACT prep. Students created three-, five- and 10-year plans and worked on ACT practice questions.

Greg Byrd, 16, is the son of Norma and Greg Byrd. Like Brown, he also attends Natchez Early College Academy.

The ACT prep has been his favorite part of the camp.

“It’s extra practice on it for when we do take it,” Byrd said.

And at the end of the day Friday, students left with a lot of practice for the world of high school, and college, math.