In this study we investigated the relationship between urban eighth grade students' Hands-On Exposure to Algebraic Thinking (HEAT) competition performance and their subsequent performance on standardized measures of mathematics achievement (ACT Composite Score, ACT Math Scores, and Louisiana Algebra End of Course Exams). It was found that the pictorial portion of the project was a relatively consistent predictor of participants' high school academic performance. That is, as participants' HEAT pictorial competition scores increased, so did their ACT composite, ACT math scores, and Algebra End of Course Exam Scores. Findings from the HEAT Project may contribute to conversations centered on ways to expose urban students to creative, social, hands-on pedagogy in non-evaluative contexts in order to position students for both immediate and long-term mathematics success without sacrificing intellectual rigor.