LA PLATA, Md. (February 10, 2012)—A team from Mattawoman Middle School will compete next month in the state MathCounts competition after winning first place among 21 teams at the Southern Maryland competition held Feb. 4 at Theodore G. Davis Middle School in Waldorf.
The top five teams advance to the state level. The state MathCounts competition is scheduled for March 17 at John Hopkins University, and middle school teams from Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties competed in the regional competition. Also advancing to the state level is the team from Milton M. Somers Middle School, which earned fifth place.
The students on Mattawoman’s team are seventh graders Logan Cotner and Thach-Vu Nguyen, and eighth graders Justin Arter and James Arter. Team coach is Sean Lloyd, a mathematics teacher at Mattawoman. Cotner also ranked first among the more than 100 students that competed in the individual rankings.
Students on the Somers team include eighth graders Robert Alcorn, Kristopher Lukas, and Thomas “TC” Martin, and seventh grader Justin Cortez. Team coaches are Jennifer Craigmile, a mathematics teacher at Somers, and Alexandria Bumb, a Somers science teacher.
Additionally, seven other CCPS students will compete at the state level for earning a place in the top 25 individual rankings at the regional competition. They are: Paul Morrissey, eighth grade, Davis; Charles “Nick” Rawson, eighth grade, Mattawoman; Kacie Danek, eighth grade, Mattawoman; Andrew Nguyen, eighth grade, Mattawoman; Hope French, eighth grade, John Hanson Middle School; James Wash, seventh grade, Davis; and Matthew Fan, eighth grade, Piccowaxen Middle School.
The competition consists of four rounds in which students compete and earn points both as team members and individuals. In the sprint round, students individually complete a 30-question test. In the target round, students have four sets of math problems and are given six minutes to complete each set of two questions. During the team round, students receive 20 minutes to complete 10 questions as a team. The final round is a Jeopardy-style countdown round, in which the top 12 students compete against each other.
MathCounts is one of the country's largest and most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and students. The regional competition is sponsored by the three Southern Maryland public school systems, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc., and the National Society of Professional Engineers. For more information about MathCounts, visit https://mathcounts.org/.
Source: Charles County Public Schools