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Math whiz kids compete in battle of numbers

By Curt Slyder
Lafayette Journal and Courier

Numbers were flying everywhere on March 11 in the Class of 1950 lecture hall at Purdue University.

The state finals of the annual Mathcounts program pitted sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders from all over the state in a battle of geometry, equations and story problems.

Teams from Tecumseh Middle School, East Tipp Middle School, Klondike Middle School and West Lafayette Junior High School were among the 160 students.

Anita Wong, 14, was one of several local students making it into the top 32 individuals in the state.

"After the chapter competition when I found out I was going to state, it went up a few levels," theWest Lafayette eighth-grader said.

West Lafayette finished second in the team competition behind Honey Creek Middle School of Terre Haute. East Tipp and Klondike also fared well, finishing respectively third and fifth.

All of the top finishing schools received trophies for their efforts.

West Lafayette started practicing in August, meeting once a week for 45 minutes, said team co-coach Patty Hufford. They upped it to twice a week in January, she said.

Even though the state competition was being held virtually in their back yards, local students and coaches agreed it was no advantage. It just made it much easier to attend.

"We love having it here," said East Tipp coach Tom Rice. "When it's been at Rose-Hulman, we go spend the night there and it takes a lot of travel time."

"For a lot of our kids, it's their first year at state," said Tecumseh co-coach Arianne Menon. "We're just happy to be here."

"During the morning, they participated in three series of tests," said Bill Walker, director of Purdue's science outreach program. "There was a team competition, a target competition and a sprint round."
The team competition established the team scores.

The target competition involved students getting several series of two story problems they must solve within 10 minutes. The sprint round involves answering 40 questions in 30 minutes, Walker said. Both those rounds helped establish the top 32 individuals.

Afternoon competition involved a countdown round, where the top 32 individuals competed head to head to be among the first to correctly answer two questions.

All students received the competition questions at the same time, and had to buzz in when they had an answer.

Often, students hit their buzzers before the moderator was able to finish the question, which was also displayed on a screen.

No matter how hard they prepared in advance, once they got into the competition, the pressure made it difficult.

"When you actually get in and look at the math problems, it's like, 'h-u-u-uh?'" said Emily Kalish, 13, a Tecumseh eighth-grader. "I remembered how to do this five minutes ago."

The top four individuals will represent Indiana in the national Mathcounts finals in Arlington, Va. this May. The top 10, none of whom are from the Lafayette area, are also eligible for full-tuition scholarships to Purdue's College of Engineering or College of Science, Walker said.

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