Stillwater math wizards win in first try year

After winning first place at their first MathCounts competition, the Stillwater Christian School Jedi “Math”ters will take their top mathletes to state.

To get there, they competed against nine teams of sixth- through eighth-graders at the Kalispell Chapter MathCounts competition (the top three advance to state).

Stillwater had the top team score to win the title. Ronan Middle School placed second and Kalispell Middle School was third.

During competition, students are tested on topics such as probability, statistics, linear algebra and polynomials. The competition consists of timed written tests and a fast-paced oral match.

This is the first year Stillwater Christian and Kalispell Middle School have formed math teams and participated in MathCounts.

Coached by math teacher Dana Hashley, the Stillwater Christian School state team includes eighth-graders Rochelle Fisher, Clayton Hashley, Alex Sheppard and Alisa Venman.

Hashley said the team win was a thrill.

“We have students with varied skills, so I think the team competition is our best component,” Hashley said.

A math team is motivation for students to practice and hone their skills for competition. The Jedi “Math”ters meet every Tuesday for practice.

“It gives us an incentive to practice over and over again real-life story problems, that not only help with applying math, but also is a great preparation for standardized and college entrance exams,” Hashley said.

The Kalispell Middle School state team, coached by library media specialist Allison Mitchell, includes eighth-graders Colin Cordell, Pascale Yacavone, Ananda Hill and Kyersten Siebenaler.

There has been a longtime interest to form a math team, Mitchell said.

“We had to learn a lot,” Mitchell said. “We have a brilliant pool of young adults.”

One area they worked on was understanding the language used in MathCounts problems Mitchell said, for example, problems involving fractions asked “find the common fraction,” instead of what students are used to seeing in school as “simplify the fraction.”

Mitchell said the team excels in multi-step algebraic problems and after a state competition experience, Mitchell said she sees future success.

“This is really a great opportunity for these kids,” she said.

Vicki Neill is coordinator for Kalispell Chapter MathCounts and member of the Montana Society of Engineers that sponsored the chapter competition.

“This competition undoubtedly featured some of the brightest middle school students in our state,” Neill said.

The top two individuals not on an advancing team going to state are Cayuse Prairie School seventh-grader Alex Naglichof and Kalispell Middle School eighth-grader Rayna Darrow.  

The state competition will be Thursday at Montana State University in Bozeman. Winners at state will advance to the national competition in Orlando, Fla.

For more information or to try the problem of the week, visit www.mathcounts.org.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.