Get Schooled: Go On, Do the Math

By Amber Lester Friday, March 05, 2010

If a reporter hasn’t taken a math class in six years and received B’s and C’s in her five high school math courses, what is the probability she can solve a geometry question faster than two A+ middle school students?

Don’t try to make sense of that word problem. I have the answer for you: The probability is very, very low.

I joined 83 mathletes, their coaches and their parents at NASA Langley Research Center on Saturday for the annual MATHCOUNTS competition.

Thirteen middle schools across the peninsula sent teams of their eight best math students to compete at the regional level.

The competition begins at 8 a.m. with a written math test completed by each individual. While those tests are being scored, the teams complete a team test. Finally, the students with the 13 highest scores on the written test advance to the Countdown Round.

Students square off in groups of two to answer word problems projected on a screen. This year, Williamsburg-James City County School Board member Jim Kelly served as moderator. The winners of the regional MATHCOUNTS competition advance to the state competition; the winners at state then move on to the national competition. James Blair Middle School coach Michael Contakes said the kids at nationals can answer complex questions so quickly “it takes your breath away.”

National winners also get an invitation to meet the President of the United States. “My dream is to keep supporting MATHCOUNTS until I have someone invited to the Oval Office,” says Arun Verma, the organizer of the regional competition.

Before the team round began, I spoke with some of the Williamsburg-area teams, from Berkeley Middle School, James Blair Middle School and Walsingham Academy. Walsingham teacher Bud Barnett, in his third year of coaching for MATHCOUNTS, said the students who make up the team stand out in class.

“You kind of know the talent level that they have,” he said. With coaching and practice, that talent only grows to the point that some students can look at a word problem and solve it before the moderator has finished reading aloud.

The teams typically begin meeting in September and start practicing in earnest by October or November, meeting over school breaks to keep the lessons fresh. The students don’t use calculators, but practice solving geometry and algebra word problems with scratch paper. They even practice the countdown round.

But after all those hours of practice, the students are still intimidated by the competition. James Blair seventh-grader Madison Harvey was competing for the first time on Saturday and after one look around the room, had doubts she would perform as well as some of her competitors. Like who? “All the ones that look geeky,” she said, laughing.

Berkeley Middle School’s team was one of the more intimidating teams in the competition. Contakes called longtime coach Ray Hanson “a legend” and Barnett said he was “the godfather of MATHCOUNTS.”

Hanson started coaching the team 19 years ago, when his own daughter was competing. He can boast what no other regional MATHCOUNTS coach can say: One of his students went to nationals. That’s enough to have the other coaches in awe.

Hanson, for his part, is incredibly humble. He doesn’t really have a secret, he said. “I try to make MATHCOUNTS fun, as well as challenging,” he said. His students have practice meets with the teams at Grafton and Tabb Middle Schools, which seems to be the best preparation.

I asked him if he knew of any kids who were “legends” among the MATHCOUNTS crowd and he admitted a couple of his students fit that bill. I talked to his team during a pizza break and asked if they thought any of them would be competing in the countdown round. The students all pointed in two directions – toward Mayee Chen and Daniel Kelly. They were both right and wrong.

Four students from Berkeley scored high enough on the written test to advance to the countdown round – Mayee Chen, Daniel Kelly, Alec Gilliam and Mitchell Stauffer.

During the countdown round, I was blown away by the questions, which had many of the adults in the audience shaking their heads in disbelief. I tried to scribble some of the math on my reporter’s notebook, but failed to find even one answer before a middle-schooler. These kids are brilliant.

Ultimately, Mayee won the countdown round, and Berkeley won the team round. Four team members will advance to the state competition on March 20 in Richmond.

York Bonfire event
York County high school students are invited to a countywide bonfire tonight to benefit the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

“On Fire for Haiti” will be from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday at the county Sports Complex. Admission is $3 and proceeds will be donated to relief efforts. A photo ID is required for entry and reentry is not allowed. The event will feature games, music and concessions for sale.

The “rain date” in case of inclement weather is March 12. For more information, call 890-3502 or visit here.