For the 6th consecutive year, Morgan Hill students qualified to compete at the MATHCOUNTS State Championship by excelling at the Monterey Bay regional MATHCOUNTS competition. Also, for the first time, a Martin Murphy student took top individual honors.
On Feb. 11, at San Benancio Middle School in Salinas, a total of 79 6th through 8th grade students from 18 schools competed in the regional competition, including 35 Morgan Hill students from Britton and Martin Murphy middle schools, Charter School of Morgan Hill, Oakwood School and Silicon Valley Flex Academy, as well as Nordstrom, Jackson, San Martin/Gwinn, Los Paseos and El Toro elementary schools.
Marina Bireley, an eighth-grader at Martin Murphy Middle School, received the top overall individual score and will advance to the MATHCOUNTS state championship March 17 at Stanford University. Andrew Liu, an eighth-grader at Britton also qualified for the state championship. Jason Rhoads, a seventh-grader at the Charter School, narrowly missed the opportunity to move on in individual competition. In the team component, Britton placed third, and just missed qualifying for the state competition. The Britton team was comprised of Liu, Alex Holmstrom, Kaden Foster and Colin Kyle.
Most of Morgan Hill’s MATHCOUNTS competitors progressed through the American Institute of Math’s (AIM’s) Morgan Hill Math coaching program that begins in fourth grade. They have been preparing for this competition since September, working to enhance their math and problem solving skills with math coaches Lori Mains (AIM), Elizabeth Mandel (AIM), Dave Holmstrom (AIM), Steve Earth (Oakwood School) and Keith Hayden (Oakwood School). This year’s coaching team also included several local high school students and former MATHCOUNTS competitors: Katie Grant, Madeleine Dile, Mark Holmstrom, Josh Toch and Michelle Nguyen. Additional advanced math training was given by Dr. Brian Conrey, executive director of AIM.
MATHCOUNTS is a national, middle school enrichment competition program that is open each fall to all interested students. School teams of up to eight students are selected prior to the competition in February. Morgan Hill has additional math enrichment opportunities, including the upcoming Math Mardi Gras. This free, community-wide, family math event for students in grades 2 through 12 and their families is put on by AIM. The day features prizes, fun math booths and friendly competitions such as Math Jeopardy, SET and Sudoku. It will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at Oakwood School, 105 John Wilson Way.
For information about AIM’s Math Mardi Gras or MATHCOUNTS coaching program, visit mathmardigras.org or morganhillmath.org.
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