Math Olympiad Eyes Stony Brook Tournament
Who could have known that a math competition can be as exciting as a ball game? The young men and women who have made the Huntington School District's Math Olympiad teams a force to be respected over the past five years understand just how grueling and just how fun solving math problems can be.
SEARCH chairperson-teacher Maryann Daly will lead the Huntington youngsters into "battle" this week when the group travels east to the Stony Brook University math tournament. The all-day competition will feature more than 20 school districts bringing their top fifth and sixth grade math whizzes for the challenging event.
This year's Huntington sixth grade team consists of Dylan Bluemer, Alexandra Cartwright, Peter Ciccone, Nicholas Earle, Luke Eidle, William Fallon, Aidan Forbes, Jose Luis Granados, Anthony Puglisi and Katie Reilly.
The district's fifth grade team includes Katie Burton, Hadley Clayton, Jack Hanson, Madeline Haughwout, Noah Morris, Haley Mortell, David Mosden, Adriana Scarpati, Katie Stock and Ariana Strieb.
"The day is divided into two parts; the individual meet, followed by a review of the questions and a discussion of how the children arrived at their answers," Mrs. Daly explained. "After this session, each team of five tries to solve ten difficult multi-step problems collectively. Individual scores are added to the team score and results are then tabulated."
The top ten students of the more than 200 participants earn a larger and quite impressive looking trophy for their efforts. The top three fifth and sixth grade teams also earn team trophies for their achievements. Over the past four years, Huntington students have placed in the top ten individual meets and in first, second and third place in the team standings.
For the last six weeks, the Huntington Math Olympiad teams have attended extra practices learning how to work cooperatively and effectively as a unit to prepare for the team meet. "They are ready and eager to participate in this exciting event," Mrs. Daly said.