Student places in top 10 in math contest

PRAIRIE GROVE — Olivia Thompson, a sophomore at Prairie Grove High School, said she likes math because “there’s always an answer.”

Her ability to figure out the right answer paid off recently when she placed in the top 10 at a Northwest Arkansas math competition, competing against students from all across the region.

The competition was hosted by the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The organization sponsors the regional contest every year. For the past couple years, students have participated from their home schools because of covid-19. Before covid, students came to the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville for the competition.

Melanie Nations, gifted and talented coordinator for the Prairie Grove School District, said Thompson studied and took practice tests for the competition almost every day.

Thompson competed in the Algebra II math test and finished seventh in the region, out of 65 students. Other students competing came from private and public schools in Northwest Arkansas.

The tests were mailed to the proctor, administered to the participants and then mailed back to the University of Arkansas, Nations said. Students were given a week’s time frame to take the 45-minute test. The Algebra II test was multiple choice with open response questions for any tiebreakers, Nations said.

Thompson said she likes math because it is objective, not subjective. She’s interested in a career that involves math, such as being a neurosurgeon or an aerospace engineer. An engineering degree is on the table, she said, in case she finds out she doesn’t like “blood and guts.”

Thompson will receive a lanyard for being in the top 10, and this will be presented at the school’s awards ceremony.

Thompson