St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans received a $1 million pledge from former NBA star Charles Barkley after two of its students made a unique breakthrough in mathematics. Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson, then high-school seniors, developed a new proof of the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry. Their work attracted attention after they presented it to the American Mathematical Society, and Barkley later saw their achievement on television. The story prompted him to support the school and the opportunities it gives students beyond the classroom.
How Charles Barkley pledged $1 million after a historic maths discovery
Johnson and Jackson were students at St. Mary’s Academy when they began working on a problem that had challenged mathematicians for generations. The Pythagorean theorem describes the relationship between the three sides of a right-angled triangle and has been known since ancient times.What made the students’ work unique was the method they used. According to BasketballNetwork, they proved the theorem through trigonometry, despite a long-standing belief that such an approach could lead to circular reasoning because many familiar trigonometric formulas are connected to the theorem itself.The pair found a way around that problem by using the Law of Sines. Their approach showed that the trigonometric relationship they relied on did not necessarily depend on the Pythagorean theorem, allowing them to construct their proof without assuming the result they were trying to establish. Barkley became aware of the students through coverage of their achievement. After watching them on TV, he decided to pledge $1 million to St. Mary’s Academy.The former NBA star has spoken publicly about encouraging young Black students to consider careers beyond sports and entertainment. BasketballNetwork reported that Barkley has often urged students to think about professions such as medicine, law, engineering and teaching rather than seeing athletics as their only path. Their work gave him an example of the kind of academic accomplishment he had been encouraging students to pursue.
Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson. Image Credit: People/Website
Why the students’ mathematical proof was so challenging
The discovery was not the result of a quick classroom exercise. The SportsRush reported that Johnson and Jackson worked on the problem for months, with Johnson’s parents recalling how many pages of calculations accumulated during the process.Their work was eventually submitted for recognition at an American Mathematical Society conference in March 2023. By then, teachers and their families understood that the students had produced something far beyond an ordinary school assignment.
St. Mary’s Academy will use the $1 million pledge to support students
The donation was structured as a 10-year gift rather than a single payment. Axios reported that the first part of Barkley’s $1 million donation had arrived at St. Mary’s Academy by September 2024.The school said the money would be used to strengthen its educational experience and create more opportunities for students to develop both inside the classroom and within the New Orleans community. St. Mary’s president Pamela Rogers described the gift as support for students as they pursue the ambitions they develop during their time at the school, as reported by Axios.
Where these 2 students continued their studies
Johnson and Jackson had already moved on from St. Mary’s by the time Barkley’s donation was announced. Axios reported that Johnson became a student at Louisiana State University, while Jackson began studying at Xavier University.Their paths after high school also show how quickly an extraordinary school achievement can become part of a longer academic journey. For the school, their work also became part of its wider academic story. The donation linked Barkley’s interest in education with an achievement that had begun as two students working through a difficult mathematical problem.
Barkley’s donation extended the impact of the students’ discovery
The SportsRush reported that Barkley has previously made substantial donations to educational causes, including support for his alma mater, Auburn University. His $1 million pledge to St. Mary’s followed that broader pattern of giving, but this particular donation was directly connected to the achievement of Johnson and Jackson.
