Buzzing With Numbers: Middle School Hosts Math Counts Competition

Twelve of St. Margaret’s Middle School students squared off in a spirited Math Counts Competition held in Hurlbut Theater this week. As part of the national Math Counts Program, the school-level competition marked the first stage in a series of contests designed to celebrate and challenge Middle School mathematics achievement.

The event featured the top four students from each grade level, selected earlier in November through a qualifying math test administered in classrooms. These students competed in a series of timed rounds designed to test both speed and accuracy, culminating in the St. Margaret’s Countdown Round, where students raced to solve increasingly difficult problems.

Middle School Math Teacher Stephanie Windes, who posed the questions and coordinated the competition, was assisted by fellow math teachers Rachel Stephens, Shelly Meirovitch and Corinne Samskey.

“Math Counts turns mathematics into an exciting and prestigious challenge,” said Ms. Windes. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our students to showcase their skills and enthusiasm for math.”

With a captivated audience watching, students worked quickly against one another to solve complex math problems, quickly hitting the buzzer as soon as the problem was solved. Each head-to-head matchup was best of three, so the most correct answers after three problems advanced in the competition.

The overall winner was grade 8 student Kiki Chang, with grade 8 student Vivian Chen placing second, and grade 6 student Aiden Jantzi finishing in third.

Joining the top three on stage were grade 6 students William Liao, Kevin Chen and

Stephanie Zhang; grade 7 students Julia Pi, Jayden Kim, Logan Kim, Josh Lee; and grade 8 students Jonathen Wei and Claire Fan.

Math Counts is a national enrichment, coaching, and competition program that promotes middle school math excellence across all U.S. states and territories. Competitions are held at four levels: school, chapter, state, and national. School competitions, such as the one hosted at St. Margaret’s, determine which students will represent their school in the regional contest.

St. Margaret’s top performers will advance to the regional competition in February at the University of California, Irvine. From there, the highest-scoring teams and individuals progress to the State Competition in March, with the top four individuals earning a place at the Raytheon Math Counts National Competition in May in Orlando, Florida. Prizes such as scholarships are awarded to students at every level of competition.

Congratulations to all the participants!