Download Creator of TiViTz Math and Strategy Game Credits Childhood

Creator of TiViTz Math and Strategy Game Credits Childhood
Teachers with Fostering His Passion for Kids’ Math Mastery
Like many successful business people,
celebrities and philanthropists, TiViTz
inventor and entrepreneur Steve Scully has a
teacher — or teachers — to thank for his
success, and for his mission to boost kids’
proficiency of math.
Growing up in Louisiana, Scully, the fourth of
eight children, says, “I was fortunate to have great teachers in grade school. I saw math as a fun
challenge.”
Scully’s acumen at math and his entrepreneurial spirit inspired him to start his own business at age
13, painting house numbers on curbs and making $5 per hour when minimum wage was $1.60. He
continued his early “career”— painting apartments and new houses— while attending high school
and later college at Louisiana State University. After college, the young entrepreneur began
developing drug awareness materials for students, which were distributed throughout the United
States by schools and law enforcement departments.
It was this exposure to the public school system, as well as national headlines about the declining
proficiency of American students, particularly in math and science, that led Scully to develop a
game that would make math fun.
“All kids can enjoy math and not see it as a torturous subject they have to learn,” believes Scully.
“Once they grasp the basics, the higher maths are easier to understand.”
Motivation, Motivation, Motivation…
The inventor routinely quotes Terrel H. Bell, U.S. Secretary of Education from 1981 to 1985. “There
are three things to emphasize in teaching: The first is motivation, the second is motivation, and the
third is (you guessed it) motivation.”
Scully took Bell’s wisdom to heart when creating TiViTz, a math and strategy game loosely based on
checkers, in which players jump their tivits, or playing pieces, diagonally across the board to create
and solve math equations with the highest possible solution in order to win the game. Imaginative
themes like Baseball, Space, Aqua and Hockey (and now online-only versions like Safari and Golf),
immerse kids in the worlds they already know and love. Simply put, “You have to get kids’ attention
to get them to want to listen and to engage,” says Scully.
A Home Run for TiViTz
His passion for math education and his academic tournament structure quickly caught the attention
of the New York Yankees, who, in the late 1990s, eagerly agreed to host workshops for hundreds of
teachers at their stadium. From there, TiViTz tournaments spread nationwide. Even before the
launch of the online game, more than 10,000 teachers were using TiViTz in their classrooms and
more than 400,000 kids were playing TiViTz at home, at school, in afterschool clubs and on sports
teams.
This phenomenal growth is due in part to the support of other Major League Baseball teams and an
endorsement from Baseball Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken Jr., who believed in the product so much he
lent his name and image to develop the company’s most popular themed version, Ripken Baseball
TiViTz. Among other well-known supporters are California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and
his Schwarzenegger Youth Foundation, Space Shuttle Commander Rick Searfoss, who serves as the
spokesperson for Space TiViTz, and marine conservationist, Jean-Michel Cousteau, spokesman for
Aqua TiViTz.
Staunch Supporter
But perhaps TiViTz’ biggest supporter in the early days was current CEO, Siobhan Mullen, an
astrophysicist, MBA and former NASA executive. She was so impressed with TiViTz after meeting
Scully in 2002, she invested her savings and career into promoting the company. But TiViTz wasn’t
the only idea Scully was promoting during that business lunch — the two entrepreneurs tied the
knot in 2003. In 2004, they formed the parent company for TiViTz — SAS Games, Inc., an acronym
of their first initials and their daughter’s.
Why TiViTz Works
Although the backing of well-known figures has helped spread the word about TiViTz, celebrity
endorsements mean nothing to kids if not backed by a great product. “It’s the healthy
competition—bragging rights and simple prizes— that motivates kids the most,” believes Scully.
Top players earn the opportunity to participate in tournaments at the local and regional level, many
at exciting venues such as Major League Baseball stadiums and Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Complex. Cool prizes, including trophies, gift cards and opportunities to travel to tournaments and
meet with sports stars and astronauts, reinforce students’ newfound self-esteem and sense of
sportsmanship, not to mention the math and critical thinking skills that are sharpened by the game.
While kids may think they’re simply playing a fun and challenging board game or online game, Scully
and Mullen, along with Ripken, Schwarzenegger, Searfoss and Cousteau, know that TiViTz is helping
students gain the confidence to pursue careers in STEM: science, technology, engineering and
math.
ABOUT TiViTz: TiViTz® is a registered trademark of SAS Games, Inc. Based in Cocoa, Fla., the
company is led by CEO Siobhan Mullen, a former aerospace executive, in partnership with TiViTz
creator, Stephen Scully. Encouraging students of all ages to: “Improve Your Game, Improve Your
Mind®,” SAS Games produces the popular TiViTz board game as well as 2D and 3D online versions at
tivitz.com. The game has won multiple awards in the toy and game industry, including Dr. Toy,
National Parenting Center, Creative Child and Parents’ Choice.
TiViTz is not only a favorite of school districts, youth sports leagues, afterschool clubs, and of
course, discerning parents and kids, it is also endorsed by several celebrity spokespersons, most
notably, Hall of Famer and former Baltimore Orioles’ Shortstop, Cal Ripken Jr. TiViTz Live Action
Tournaments have been sponsored and/or hosted by Ripken Baseball, McDonald’s ®/Caspers
Company in Tampa, Fla., Busch Gardens Tampa, NASA/Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the
Schwarzenegger Youth Foundation, national science museums, the National Hockey League’s San
Jose Sharks, and Minor and Major League Baseball Teams including the Yankees, Dodgers, Tigers,
Rangers, Devil Rays and Tampa Bay Rays.
###
Media Contact:
For more information:
Nancy Summers, Marketing Manager
website: tivitz.com
804-501-6746 (cell)
Facebook: facebook.com/tivitz
813-839-4827 (office)
Twitter: twitter.com/tivitz
[email protected]
YouTube: youtube.com/user/TiViTzChannel
Instagram: instagram.com/tivitz
Pinterest: pinterest.com/tivitz/