Math Stars Shine In Manhattan Competition

There were last-minute strategies exchanged, last-minute hugs from parents, and a couple of last-minute tears. Saturdays Mathcounts Manhattan competition started like most other competitions-but this wasnt a battle of brawn, it was a battle of brains.

New York (PRWEB) February 14, 2005 -- There were last-minute strategies exchanged, last-minute hugs from parents, and a couple of last-minute tears. Saturdays Mathcounts Manhattan competition started like most other competitions-but this wasnt a battle of brawn, it was a battle of brains.

At 9:30 a.m., almost 75 middle-school students sat in silent rows in a classroom on the third-floor of Columbia Universitys Mathematics Building, their legs dangling over the grown-up-sized chairs, some of their feet barely touching the floor. Each had a pile of scrap paper on his or her desk, a sharpened pencil in hand, and a calculator resting on the floor below-calculators werent allowed during the 40-minute exam, the first of four parts in the competition.

Five hours later, after a quick pizza lunch (a gift from Columbias math department), a team of volunteers tallied scores while parents, coaches, and team members-a standing-room only crowd-watched the top 12 mathletes" take part in the final contest, a Jeopardy-style countdown round.

Ive never seen students so excited about math," said volunteer Ciji Portis, and its lovely."

Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from 17 middle schools-including Manhattan Country, Booker T. Washington, and Manhattan Academy of Technology-competed individually and as teams in fast-paced written and oral matches for the fifteenth annual competition. Subjects included algebra, probability, statistics and geometry.

When all the numbers were in, Hunter College High School came out on top once again. Guy Tabachnick, Kevin Kwok, Guanqun Shi, and Harriet Li took first through fourth in the countdown round, respectively. In the two-part individual round, the same four students took the trophies in a different order: Kwok, Li, Tabachnick, and Shi.

The three winning teams-Hunter College High School, Simon Baruch Middle School, and Salk School of Science-will advance to the state competition in Albany. The top four state competitors will advance to the national competition.

Sheila Krilov, who coaches the Hunter team, said she was thrilled with the results, and gave her students most of the credit. I have a loaded deck," she said. I have very gifted kids."

All of the students who participated in Saturdays event received day passes to Chelsea Piers. Local sponsors of the event included Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor; Zetlin & De Chiara; Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers; and the Columbia University math department.

While thrilled with the outcome of Saturdays event-which ran smoothly with the help of Maggie Feurtado, Columbia Universitys Terrance Cope, and a number of volunteers-the group still has much ground to cover to maximize its impact on the education of the citys children. Other urban areas have Mathcounts participation rates approaching 25 percent, which is a long-term goal of Mathcounts Manhattan-one it cannot accomplish on its own. We wanted to grow," said Jeremy Edmunds, Mathcounts Manhattan coordinator, but now were suffering from growing pains."

Volunteers are needed throughout the year to tutor students, fundraise, and staff the competition. Corporate and individual donors are needed to underwrite the cost of running the program. For information on helping Mathcounts Manhattan grow, contact Edmunds by phone or e-mail.

Founded in 1983, Mathcounts is a nationwide program that promotes math excellence in middle schools. The program, which has grown to reach more than half a million students, strives to raise the education bar by motivating students interested in improving their math skills in a friendly club environment. Its about setting higher standards," Edmunds said.

Mathcounts Manhattan was started in 1990 by engineer Bill Gross. It has grown to serve more than 10 percent of the boroughs middle schools.

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