MATH COUNTS

Math Counts is the name of a national math competition. It starts in the middle school where they form a math club. From the members of the club they form a team of four of the best "mathletes". This team along with the next four best mathletes attend the district level competition. Our district is the Northeast Pennsylvania district. Thomas went as a member of the team and Erin went as an individual. Our team came in second this year. They lost by half a point! Last year they came in first place and they were able to go onto the state level competition. This year Thomas placed second in the "individual" competition and then during a "countdown" round (need to be first to sound a buzzer to answer questions) moved up to become the top mathlete for the northeast district. Hooray for Thomas! He will get to go onto the state level competition. The top 4 mathletes from that competition will go on to the national competition in Fort Worth, Texas. I am equally proud of Erin who worked really hard to be one of the individuals going to the competition. Fortunately, the coach takes into account dedication and effort. It was a close call between a few students for that last spot on the team but Erin was the only one who went to every practice and had a really great attitude. I'm glad he recognized that fact. Both Erin and Thomas were excited the night before and the day of the competition. Overall it was a really great experience. At the district level the competition is not super intense. It gets a bit more serious at the state level and I'm sure that the national level is probably overwhelming. I doubt Thomas would make it that far because he is really in it for the joy of math and not for winning. You can see that the winners at the state level are really out to beat everyone. I'm sure a lot of tedious memorizing is involved. Erin was in it for the challenge and the fun time. Fortunately, their coach allowed them to have fun!