800 area students scramble for math bragging rights

More than 800 fifth-graders from 14 schools from Elk Grove to Modesto will converge on University of the Pacific’s Stockton campus today for the 14th annual Math Steeplechase.

The event is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Spanos Center.

Guided by 60 or so Pacific students, the fifthgraders will go through a math competition, physics experiments, a campus scavenger hunt, and athletic activities as they learn how to work as a team on math problems while glimpsing college life. These fifth-graders are vying for trophies, participation buttons, bragging rights and fun.

The best viewing times are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring:

• Fifth-graders using tools, twine, buttons and other items to solve complex math problems

• Students racing off throughout the campus to complete in a scavenger hunt • Physics experiments • Students receiving trophies at 1 p.m. (All 800 or so students will be in the Spanos Center at that time.)

The Math Steeplechase was founded 14 years ago by then-student Tara Runnels, a 2007 graduate, and is based on an event she attended in high school that sparked her interest in math. Runnels today is an elementary school math teacher.

The event is intended to improve critical thinking and math skills in elementary school students. It also shows students that learning math and science can be fun. More than 6,000 students have attended the event over the past 13 years. For those attending, enter the campus from Pershing Avenue turning onto Larry Heller Drive. The Spanos Center will be on the right just past the Klein Family Field and parking will be on the left. Additional parking is farther along Larry Heller Drive.